AT  THE 

RUSSIAN 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


SIX   YEARS   AT    THE    RUSSIAN 
COURT 


The  Czarina  with  the  Czarovitch. 


[Frontispiece. 


Six  Years  at  the 
Russian  Court 


BY 

M.  EAGAR 


WITH    NUMEROUS    ILLUSTRATIONS 


NEW    YORK: 
CHARLES    L,    BOWMAN    &   COMPANY 


Printed  in  Great  Britain 


Collega 
Library 

JDK 


Ells 


PREFACE. 


IN  a  book  recently  published  the  author 
describes  at  length  a  visit  to  the  house  of 
the  Governor  of  Moscow,  and  speaks  of  his 
family  and  governess.  Now  for  fourteen 
years  before  his  death  the  Grand  Duke 
Serge  was  Governor  of  Moscow — and  he  had 
no  children. 

A  well-known  magazine  spoke  of  us  travel- 
ling with  a  cow  !  Now  I  can  safely  aver  that 
I  never  took  a  cow  on  a  journey.  She  would 
have  been  very  much  in  our  way,  and  the 
poor  beast  would  have  had  a  sad  time  in  the 
Baltic  or  Black  Sea  ! 

Again  and  again  have  I  seen  allusions  to 
the  Empress's  love  of  caricatures,  and  her 
cleverness  in  drawing  them.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  the  Empress  never  drew  such  a  thing 
in  her  life  ;  nor  can  she  see  the  fun  of  them 
when  they  are  drawn  by  other  people. 


1181162 


viii  Preface. 

The  author  of  a  book  which  had  consider- 
able success  describes  Tsarskoe  Selo  as  being 
surrounded  by  double  walls  of  granite.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  Tsarskoe  Selo  is  separated 
from  the  road  only  by  iron  railings. 

The  English  daily  papers  described  the 
Emperor  and  his  family  as  having  fled  in 
their  yacht,  at  a  time  when  the  yacht  was 
deeply  embedded  in  ice  outside  Kronstadt. 

I  could  multiply  such  stories  ad  lib.,  but 
merely  wish  to  draw  attention  to  the  fact 
that  so  much  that  is  written  regarding  Russia 
and  the  Imperial  family  is  absolutely  untrue, 
so  little  is  really  known  about  the  Court  life, 
that  I  am  emboldened  to  offer  my  slight 
sketches  of  life  in  the  Palaces.  It  would  be 
very  easy  for  me  to  "  pile  on  the  agony;" 
to  represent  the  Emperor  as  a  "  much- 
ridden  "  man ;  to  picture  plots  and  counter 
plots ;  to  speak  of  hairbreadth  escapes  from 
death;  of  hidden  bombs;  of  life  made 
horrible  by  fears  ;  but  no  such  things  have 
occurred  in  my  six  years  at  the  Russian 
Court,  and  I  am  a  truthful  person,  and  have 
not  started  forth  to  write  fiction,  but  plain, 
unvarnished  truth. 

To    the    courtesy    of    the    editor    of     the 


Preface.  ix 

Leisure  Hour  I  am  indebted  for  permission 
to  reprint  those  parts  of  this  work  which 
have  already  appeared  in  print.  But  the 
book  has  been  considerably  enlarged. 

M.  EAGAR. 
London,  1906. 


NOTE. 

SHORTLY  after  the  birth  of  the  Czarevitch 
I  said  to  the  Empress  that  I  often  had 
thought  of  writing  my  memoirs.  She  en- 
couraged me  to  do  so,  saying  so  many 
untruths  had  been  published  that  it  would 
be  a  relief  to  have  an  account  of  the  Rus- 
sian Court  which  was  absolutely  true. 
Hence  this  book. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAP.  PAGE 

I. — CONCERNING  MY  JOURNEY  i 

II. — CONCERNING   THE  WINTER   PALACE        .  8 

III. — CONCERNING   ST.    PETERSBURG       .        .  16 

IV. — CONCERNING  TSARSKOE  SELO  ...  20 

V. — CONCERNING  EASTER       .        .        .        -29 

VI. — CONCERNING  PETERHOFF         ...  43 

VII. — CONCERNING  FATHER  JOHN     ...  58 

VIII. — A  GLIMPSE  OF  POLAND   ....  67 

IX. — ROUGH  LIFE  OF  RUSSIAN  PEASANTRY     .  72 

X. — SEARCHING  FOR  THE  MAGIC  BLOOM        .  78 

XI. — A  RUSSIAN  CHRISTMAS  ....  84 

XII. — LIFE  IN  THE  KREMLIN   ....  89 

XIII. — IN  BELOVEGE 109 

XIV. — THE  YOUNG  OFFICER  AND  THE  DOLLS    .  116 

XV. — THE  LITTLE  PRISON  OPENER.        .        .  131 

XVI. — MY  FIRST  MEETING  WITH  THE  KING      .  144 

XVII. — LOST  IN  THE  FOREST      ....  148 

XVIII. — CONCERNING  THE  CHILDREN  .        .        .157 


xiv  Contents. 

CHAP.  PAGE 

XIX. — CHERSONESE 162 

XX.— THE  PRIEST 

XXI. — PRINCESS  ELLA 

XXII. — THE  OUTBREAK  OF  WAR 
XXIII. — THE  RUSSIAN  SOLDIERS  .... 
XXIV. — ATTACKS  ON  THE  CZAR'S  LIFE 
XXV. — SOCIAL  LIFE  IN  RUSSIA  .... 
XXVI. — POST  OFFICE  VAGARIES  IN  RUSSIA. 
XXVII. — THE  TRUE  STORY  OF  KISHINEFF    . 
XXVIIL— THE  RUSSIAN  CLERGY     .... 
XXIX. — MORE  ABOUT  THE  CHILDREN  . 
XXX. — EDUCATION  IN  RUSSIA    .... 
XXXI. — THE  BIRTH  OF  AN  HEIR 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


The  Czarina  with  the  Czarevitch  .  .  .  Frontispiece 
The  Grand  Duchess  Olga,  at  three  years  of 

age      .......   Facing  page  2 

The  Czarina    ......„„  4 

The  Grand  Duchess  Tatiana,  at  18  months 

of  age.  ....„„  6 

The  Czarina's  room  in  the  Winter  Palace  „  „  8 
The  Nicholas  Bridge  over  the  Neva,  St. 

Petersburg .         .         .         .         .         .         ,,         ,,  16 

The  Neva  in  winter,  St.  Petersburg  .         .         ,,         ,,  16 

Czar,  Czarina,  and  their  four  daughters     .         „         „  32 

The  fountains  at  Peterhoff        .         .         .         „         „  38 

Fountain  at  Peterhoff       ....„,,  38 

The  Grand  Duchess  Olga         .         .         .         „         „  46 

The  three  eldest  children  of  the  Czar         .         „         „  68 

The  Kremlin,  Moscow    ....„„  88 

Another  view  of  the  Kremlin,  Moscow  .  „  ,,  88 
The  Czar  and  Czarina  leading  a  pro- 
cessional entrance  into  the  church  of 

the  Kremlin  at  Easter.  .  .  ,,  ,,94 

The  Czar  and  Czarina  in  old  -  world 

Muscovite  garments  ....,,,,  98 
The  two  youngest  daughters  of  the  Czar 

and  Czarina         .         .         .         .         .          „         ,,114 


XVI 


List  of  Illustrations. 


View  of  Yalta ...... 

The  Imperial  Palace,  Livadia  . 

A  Sketch  by  the  Grand  Duchess  Olga 

A  drawing  of  the  Czarina  by  the  Grand 
Duchess  Olga.  A  picture  of  unique 
interest  ...... 

A  Sketch  by  the  Grand  Duchess  Olga 

The  English  Cemetery,  Sevastopol   . 

A  royal  driving  party.  The  children  are 
the  two  eldest  daughters  of  the  Czar, 
with  the  late  Princess  Ella,  their  cousin, 
between  them  ..... 

A  royal  hunting  party.  The  Grand  Duke 
Vladimir,  the  Czarina,  and  the  Czar  are 
seated  together  ..... 

A  comely  Russian  matron  dressed  in  fite 
costume 

The  four  eldest  children  of  the  Czar  and 
Czarina 

Czarina  on  horseback  in  the  uniform  of 
the  Royal  Uhlan  Bodyguard 

Czar  and  Czarina  driving  to  a  review. 
The  Czarina  is  wearing  her  uniform  as 
Colonel  of  the  Uhlans .... 

The  two  eldest  children  of  the  Czar  in 
the  robes  they  wore  at  the  christening 
of  the  Czarovitch  .... 

Reduced  facsimile  of  a  portion  of  a 
letter  from  the  Grand  Duchess  Olga,  the 
eldest  child  of  the  Czar  and  Czarina, 
to  the  writer  of  these  articles 


Facing  page  118 
»  »  "8 
„  ,i  IS8 


160 
162 
166 


186 


1 88 


200 


202 


204 


280 


282 


Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 


CHAPTER     I. 

CONCERNING    MY    JOURNEY. 

IT  was  late  in  1898  that  I  was  chosen  to 
take  charge  of  the  little  Grand  Duchesses 
of  Russia,  and  early  the  following  year  I  set 
off  for  the  land  of  the  Czar. 

It  had  been  arranged  that  a  Royal  mes- 
senger should  meet  me  in  Berlin,  and  I  was 
to  have  travelled  under  his  escort  to  St. 
Petersburg.  But  in  case  of  any  failure  of 
the  plan,  the  friend  who  had  kindly  under- 
taken to  smooth  all  difficulties  in  the  travel- 
ling gave  me  a  telegram  for  the  Empress's 
Chancellor  to  be  sent  off  from  the  frontier. 

On  arriving  in  Berlin  I  was  met  by  a 
servant  from  the  Embassy,  armed  with  an 
immense  white  linen  bag,  tied  round  with 

i 


2          Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

red  tape  and  sealed  with  several  great  seals. 
To  my  dismay  I  was  asked  to  take  charge 
of  the  bag  and  deliver  it  safely  to  a  messenger 
from  the  Embassy  in  St.  Petersburg,  who 
should  meet  me  at  the  station  there. 

The  ambassador  sent  me  a  letter  telling 
me  that  I  should  in  no  wise  lose  sight  of  the 
bag  on  the  journey,  and  that  I  should  not 
allow  it  to  be  examined  by  the  Custom 
House  officials,  nor  by  the  Police. 

Before  leaving  England  I  had  been  told 
that  the  Empress  would  send  a  servant  to 
the  frontier  to  meet  me,  who  would  look 
after  my  luggage  and  help  me  generally  on 
the  rest  of  the  journey;  so,  feeling  sure  that 
my  troubles  would  end  there,  I  undertook 
the  charge  of  the  bag.  I  fear  that  had  I 
known  the  trouble  it  would  be  to  me  before 
the  end  of  the  journey,  I  should  have  de- 
clined to  be  burdened  with  it. 

I  had  been  given  a  passport  for  the  bag, 
and  on  arriving  at  the  frontier,  I  walked  up 
to  a  gentleman  in  uniform,  presented  the 
passport,  and  asked  if  there  was  anyone  to 
meet  me.  There  was  no  one,  but  the  gentle- 
man gave  me  into  the  charge  of  a  porter  and 
told  him  to  help  me,  so  I  followed  him  about 


Concerning  My  Journey.  3 

like  a  pet  dog,  only  refusing  to  part  with  my 
precious  bag. 

I  sent  off  a  telegram  to  the  Winter  Palace ; 
and  had  my  luggage  examined.  Oh  !  What 
an  examination  it  was !  Everything  I 
possessed  was  turned  out  of  my  trunks,  and 
they  even  put  their  hands  into  my  boots 
and  gloves.  I  then  had  to  pay  sixpence  for 
the  examination  of  each  trunk.  Finally,  I 
heard  my  name  called  by  an  official,  so 
made  my  way  to  him  and  received  my  pass- 
port, which  had  been  taken  up  for  examina- 
tion. All  being  in  order,  I  was  at  last 
released  from  durance  vile  ;  so  I  took  my 
precious  bag  in  my  arms,  and  seated  myself 
in  the  train.  I  had  lunched  at  the  frontier, 
as  in  Russia  the  trains  have  no  dining-cars  ; 
travellers  have  difficulty  in  securing  refresh- 
ment on  the  way. 

The  bag  weighed  heavily  on  my  mind, 
and  I  dared  not  leave  it  unprotected  in  the 
train.  I  could  not  carry  it  in  my  arms  to 
the  refreshment-rooms,  so  I  made  up  my 
mind  that  I  should  have  to  go  without  food. 

Fortunately  a  lady  in  the  train  took  com- 
passion upon  me,  and  with  the  help  of  a 
friend  procured  me  a  cup  of  tea  and  a  sand- 


4          Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

wich.  I  may  say  here  that  the  Russians  are 
sympathetic  and  kind  to  a  degree,  and  they 
are  always  willing  to  help  a  stranger  in  any 
way  in  their  power. 

My  kind  friend  soon  left.  I  then  met 
with  a  rather  unpleasant  experience.  The 
guard,  on  looking  at  my  ticket,  compelled 
me  to  change  my  carriage,  as  I  had  been 
travelling  second-class  with  a  first-class 
ticket.  The  compartment  was  very  warm 
and  the  night  very  cold,  so  the  difference 
of  temperature  was  very  trying,  and  I  felt 
nervous  and  frightened.  In  solitary  gran- 
deur I  continued  my  journey  to  St.  Peters- 
burg, where  my  precious  bag  and  I  safely 
arrived.  I  was  met  by  a  lady  from  the 
Winter  Palace. 

In  vain  I  looked  for  someone  to  relieve 
me  of  the  bag.  On  arriving  at  the  Winter 
Palace,  according  to  the  Empress's  orders  I 
had  lunched  and  retired.  I  had  not  long 
been  asleep  when  I  was  roused  by  knocking 
at  the  door,  and  I,  believing  it  to  be 
Madame  G.,  called  out,  "  Come  in."  To 
my  surprise  a  young  man  entered  the  room, 
saying,  "  I've  come  for  that  bag." 

I  begged  him  to  leave  the  room  until  I 


The  C/iirina. 


/''aciiig  page  4. 


Concerning  My  Journey.  5 

rose  and  dressed.  I  felt  doubtful  at  first 
about  giving  him  the  bag,  but  finally  did 
so.  His  reason  for  coming  to  my  room  him- 
self for  it  was  that  a  servant  in  the  Palace 
told  him,  when  inquiring  for  me,  that  an 
English  lunatic  had  arrived,  carrying  a  great 
bag  which  she  would  not  give  up  to  anyone, 
so  his  only  chance  of  getting  it  was  to  come 
up  for  it  himself  ! 

Hardly  was  he  gone  when  Madame  G. 
returned  to  conduct  me  to  the  Empress.  I 
thought  her  then,  and  think  her  now,  the 
handsomest  woman  I  had  ever  seen.  She  is 
tall,  statuesque  in  appearance,  with  very 
regular  features  and  a  high  complexion. 
She  was  wearing  a  mauve  dress,  as  the 
mourning  for  the  Queen  of  Denmark  was 
not  over.  It  was  also  the  2nd  of  February, 
the  Purification  of  the  Virgin,  and  a  great 
feast  in  Russia,  and  Russians  never  wear 
black  during  a  festival. 

The  Empress  received  me  in  her  boudoir 
—a  lovely  room,  upholstered  in  mauve  and 
silver  brocade ;  the  walls  were  hung  with 
the  same  fabric,  with  a  frieze  of  white  wood 
decorated  with  trails  and  wreaths  of 
wysteria  painted  on  the  wood.  Wreaths  of 


6          Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

the  same  graceful  plant  adorned  the  ceiling. 
The  furniture  was  made  of  Russian  white 
wood. 

She  herself  conducted  me  to  the  nurseries, 
where  I  saw  my  future  charges,  who  were 
beautifully  dressed,  in  honour  of  the  fes- 
tival, in  transparent  white  muslin  dresses 
trimmed  with  Brussels  lace,  and  worn  over 
pale-blue  satin  slips.  Pale-blue  sashes  and 
shoulder  ribbons  completed  their  costumes. 
The  little  Grand  Duchess  Olga  was  at  this 
time  over  three  years  of  age.  She  was  a 
very  fine  child,  and  had  large  blue-grey  eyes 
and  long  golden  curls.  The  Grand  Duchess 
Tatiana  was  a  year  and  a  half  ;  a  very  pretty 
child,  remarkably  like  her  mother,  but  deli- 
cate in  appearance. 

The  Winter  Palace  is  the  largest  building 
in  Europe.  It  was  begun  by  Peter  the 
Great  and  finished  by  Catherine  II.,  and  is 
built  in  red  sandstone.  On  one  side  there 
is  a  little  enclosed  garden,  where  in  fine 
weather  the  children  played  and  snowballed 
one  another.  The  snow  in  the  north  of 
Russia  does  not  cling  together  ;  it  is  too  dry 
and  powdery. 

This  garden  is  now  enclosed  by  a  red  stone 


Concerning  the  Winter  Palace.  9 

with  a  yellow  brocade,  and  here  are  kept  the 
children's  various  toys.  From  this  room 
the  principal  living-room  is  entered,  which 
overlooks  the  quay  and  Neva,  also  the 
garden.  It  is  very  sunny  and  bright,  and 
is  furnished  in  blue.  A  plain  velvet  pile 
blue  carpet  covers  the  floor.  The  walls  are 
covered  with  cornflower  patterned  chintz. 
Very  sweet  and  charming  it  is.  From  this 
two  bedrooms  are  entered.  Both  are  up- 
holstered with  pink  and  green  chintz,  and 
have  plain  velvet  pile  carpets  in  green.  In 
one  of  them  hangs  a  copy  of  Josephine 
Swaboda's  beautiful  Madonna  and  Child. 

Over  the  children's  rooms  are  those  of  the 
Empress.  I  have  spoken  of  her  boudoir. 
On  one  side  of  it  is  the  Emperor's  study, 
the  most  used  room  in  the  Palace.  Here 
the  Emperor  spends  hours  each  day  working 
hard  for  the  advancement  of  the  great 
Empire  committed  to  his  charge.  This  room 
is  plainly  and  solidly  furnished.  It  over- 
looks the  garden. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  boudoir  is  the 

Empress's  bedroom.     It  is  also  furnished  in 

pink  and  green,  and  adjoining  it  is  a  dressing- 

oom.     One    corner    is    hung    with    scarlet 


io        Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

cloth  from  ceiling  to  floor.  On  this  are  dis- 
played the  holy  images,  and  here  hangs  the 
sacred  lamp  which  is  always  kept  burning 
before  the  icons.  Many  of  these  pictures 
are  illuminated  in  gold,  and  ornamented 
with  precious  stones.  Some  have  the  face 
simply  painted  and  the  garments  all  com- 
posed of  precious  stones.  They  are  beau- 
tiful specimens  of  the  goldsmiths'  work,  but 
are  hardly  artistic. 

In  this  room  are  kept  the  Empress's 
jewels  in  glass  cases.  Many  of  her  jewels 
are  unique.  On  one  occasion  the  Emperor 
gave  her  an  ornament  in  the  shape  of  a  spray 
of  tea-roses  all  executed  in  yellow  diamonds. 
The  spray  consists  of  a  full-blown  rose,  with 
four  or  five  buds  and  leaves,  ah1  life-size. 
Her  rubies  and  emeralds  are  very  fine,  and, 
of  course,  her  diamonds  are  famous.  The 
Grand  Duchess  Serge,  sister  to  the  Empress, 
is  possessed  of  what  are  considered  the 
finest  sapphires  in  the  world.  Very  splendid 
they  are,  both  in  colour  and  size,  but  the 
Empress  has  some  which  run  them  very 
closely. 

From  the  bedroom  we  enter  the  yellow- 
room.  This  room  is  crowded  with  lovely 


Concerning  the  Winter  Palace.  n 

and  artistic  objects,  and  here  are  exhibited 
the  famous  Easter  eggs  which  were  at  the 
Paris  Exhibition.  These  are  the  work  of 
Faberge,  the  most  renowned  goldsmith  in 
Europe.  Beyond  this  are  two  other  recep- 
tion-rooms looking  on  to  the  quay  and  Neva, 
and  then  comes  the  jdining-room,  with  its 
treasures  of  Bohemian  and  cut  engraved 
glass.  Beyond  the  dining-room  is  the  Mala- 
chite room,  about  forty  feet  long.  The 
walls  have  beautifully  painted  panels,  divided 
by  Malachite  pillars  ;  the  furniture  is  Mala- 
chite and  gilt,  upholstered  in  crimson  bro- 
cade, the  floor  parquet  and  polished  like  a 
mirror.  These  rooms  are  never  shown  to 
the  public. 

Then  come  the  state  rooms — great  lofty 
halls  lighted  by  electricity.  The  great 
while  ballroom  holds  five  thousand  guests 
easily,  allowing  a  place  for  the  musicians 
and  also  space  for  dancing  ;  but  of  course 
at  these  great  functions  there  is  little  dancing. 

The  walls  of  these  halls  are  covered  with 
gold  plates  and  dishes,  many  of  them  with 
the  monograms  of  dead  and  gone  Emperors 
and  the  double-headed  Eagle  in  precious 
stones.  Upon  these  dishes  were  presented 


12        Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

formerly  the  bread  and  salt  with  which 
members  of  the  Imperial  family  are  greeted 
on  entering  a  town.  When  an  Imperial 
train  stops  at  a  station,  a  deputation  of  the 
principal  persons,  headed  by  one  called  the 
Stavosta  or  Elder,  presents  the  Emperor 
with  bread  and  salt.  Shortly  after  the 
accession  of  Nicholas  II.,  he  found  that  the 
poorer  villages  and  communities  were  unable 
to  afford  the  expense  of  the  gold  plate,  and 
yet  could  not  bear  to  be  outdone  by  the 
richer  villages.  He  therefore  issued  a  decree 
that  henceforth  bread  and  salt  should  be 
presented  only  on  wooden  or  china  dishes. 
This  is  very  characteristic  of  his  thought 
for  his  poorer  subjects. 

But  to  return  to  the  Winter  Palace. 
Another  room  has  eight  pairs  of  doors  of 
tortoiseshell  embellished  with  gold.  At  the 
end  of  all  these  great  rooms  is  the  theatre. 
My  little  charges  would  sit  for  half  an  hour 
at  a  time  seriously  looking  while  the  attend- 
ants changed  the  drop  scenes,  and  turned  on 
the  various  coloured  electric  lights  for  their 
entertainment.  This  they  called  "  going  to 
the  theatre."  Beyond  the  theatre  are  the 
suites  assigned  to  the  various  ministers 


Concerning  the  Winter  Palace.  13 

and  officers  and  their  families.  Returning 
from  the  theatre,  but  going  round  the  other 
side  of  the  Palace,  we  come  to  the  Hermitage, 
with  all  its  art  treasures. 

In  the  picture  gallery  here  is  the  finest 
collection  of  Rembrandts  extant.  One  of 
these  represents  the  visit  of  the  Trinity  to 
Abraham.  I  was  one  day  looking  at  it, 
trying  to  make  out  what  it  meant,  when  the 
little  Grand  Duchess  Olga  ran  up  to  me, 
and,  putting  her  hand  in  mine,  asked  me 
what  I  was  looking  at.  I  told  her ;  she 
then  looked  at  it  earnestly,  and  suddenly 
burst  out  laughing,  exclaimed  :  "  Oh ! 
What  a  very  funny  picture — a  man  holding 
a  leg  of  mutton  in  his  hand,  and  carving  it 
with  a  knife,  and  a  bird  sitting  at  the  table." 
The  bird,  needless  to  say,  was  one  of  the 
angels.  He  is  represented  with  his  back 
out,  and  has  neatly  folded  his  blue-and-white 
feather  wings.  There  are  very  many  beau- 
tiful pictures,  but  I  always  thought  the 
arrangement  bad.  They  are  arranged  ac 
cording  to  schools,  Dutch  school,  etc.,  all 
together.  So  one  gets  sacred  subjects  mixed 
up  with  many  very  different  pictures. 

There    is    a    great    collection  of    Rubens' 


14        Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

pictures,  but  I  cannot  say  that  I  admire 
them  much. 

In  the  museum  are  many  relics  of  Peter 
the  Great.  His  turning  lathe,  a  great  deal 
of  his  carving,  presses,  chests,  etc.  ;  also 
the  horse  he  used  to  ride  stuffed  in  company 
with  his  dogs.  There  is  a  long  staff  showing 
his  height.  He  must  have  been  about  six 
feet  six  inches.  Therefore,  in  many  re- 
spects he  deserved  the  title  of  "  Great," 
but  he  was  exceedingly  cruel.  There  is  a 
goblet  so  constructed  as  to  appear  much  less 
than  it  really  is.  Whenever  he  wished  to 
"  remove "  any  person  he  sent  for  him, 
flattered  him  with  many  kind  words,  and 
then,  filling  this  goblet  with  strong  wine, 
commanded  the  obnoxious  person  to  drink 
it  off  to  his  health.  When  he  had  finished 
the  contents  of  the  goblet  the  victim  fell 
dead  upon  the  floor. 

The  museum  also  contains  a  splendid  col- 
lection of  jewelled  snuff-boxes,  presented 
to  former  Emperors  by  monarchs,  am- 
bassadors, and  other  great  personages, 
jewelled  watches,  swords,  harness,  uniforms, 
etc.  There  are  also  some  very  extraordinary 
portraits  in  mosaic  work,  mechanical 


Concerning  the  Winter  Palace.          15 

animals  and  birds  in  silver  and  gold.  The 
little  children  loved  to  ramble  through  this 
museum.  When  the  Grand  Duchess  Olga 
was  quite  a  little  child  she  used  to  wish  she 
could  live  there  altogether.  Here  and  there 
amongst  the  state-rooms  are  pretty  winter 
gardens.  In  one  of  them  is  an  aviary  with 
hundreds  of  canaries,  which  are  allowed  to 
flit  amongst  the  palms.  There  are  also 
fountains  with  goldfish.  Catherine  II.  loved 
musical  surprises  in  various  forms,  and 
there  are  writing-tables  and  presses,  which, 
on  being  opened,  play  various  tunes.  These 
were  a  great  joy  to  my  little  charges. 


i6 


CHAPTER    III. 

CONCERNING    ST.    PETERSBURG. 

ST.  PETERSBURG  itself  is  both  interesting 
and  beautiful.  Essentially  modern — it  is 
only  about  two  hundred  years  since  it  was 
built — it  somehow  conveys  the  impression 
of  antiquity,  and  this  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  the  streets  are  wide  and  handsome, 
there  are  great  open  spaces,  town  gardens 
and  boulevards. 

The  idea  of  a  town  of  the  Middle  Ages 
may  be  conveyed  by  means  of  the  sign- 
boards ;  for  each  shop  hangs  out  pictures 
illustrative  of  what  may  be  found  within. 
Thus  a  military  tailor  has  pictures  of  uni- 
forms, a  greengrocer  displays  paintings  of 
cauliflowers,  etc.  Vegetables,  by  the  way, 
are  exceedingly  dear  in  the  winter  in  St. 
Petersburg ;  cabbages  are  grown  in  hot- 


Concerning  St.  Petersburg.  17 

houses.  The  peasants,  however,  use  salted 
cabbage  for  their  beloved  soup. 

The  Russians  tell  you  that  the  signboards 
are  for  the  benefit  of  foreigners  who  cannot 
read  Russian.  It  may  be  so;  in  this  case 
St.  Petersburg  owes  much  of  her  picturesque- 
ness  to  the  stranger  within  her  gates.  She 
owes  more  than  that,  however,  to  strangers, 
for  most  of  her  commerce  is  in  the  hands 
of  foreigners.  The  Russians  themselves  seem 
to  have  little  aptitude  or  care  for  business. 

I  sometimes  think  that  St.  Petersburg 
owes  more  of  her  beauty  to  the  climate, 
and  peculiar  costumes  than  to  her  signboards. 
The  air  is  very  clear,  and  for  the  greater  part 
of  the  winter  clear  blue  skies  prevail,  and 
there  is  a  great  deal  of  sunshine.  Cold 
sunshine  it  is,  but  even  so,  it  is  better  than 
the  fogs  of  London. 

The  Russian  coachman  wears  a  great 
fur-lined  robe,  reaching  to  his  feet  and 
belted  in  with  a  bright  galon,  a  flat  velvet 
cap,  in  blue,  yellow,  or  red,  according  to 
the  rank  of  his  employer,  finishes  his  costume. 
The  sledge  itself  is  picturesque.  Usually 
drawn  by  a  pair,  or  three  horses,  almost 
covered  with  a  fine  network  of  blue  or  red 

2 


1 8        Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

lined  with  silk  to  keep  the  frozen  snow  from 
being  dashed  back  into  the  occupant's  face. 
Skimming  along  over  the  frozen  snow,  it 
is  indeed  a  pretty  object. 

Then  the  Russian  priests,  with  their 
soutanes,  low-brimmed  hats,  and  long 
flowing  hair,  though  not  always  so  clean 
as  fastidious  mortals  might  wish,  are  dis- 
tinctly picturesque,  as  also  are  the  peasant 
women,  clad  in  national  costume,  bright 
red,  blue,  mauve  or  yellow  sarafams,  with 
paletots  to  match,  trimmed  with  silver  or 
gold  braid,  and  wearing  the  Kokoshnik,  or 
crescent-shaped  head-dress. 

St.  Petersburg  is,  however,  the  most  un- 
sanitary town  in  Europe.  The  drainage  is 
defective,  and  the  habits  of  life  are  not 
healthy.  A  prince  will  live  on  the  ground 
or  first  floor  of  his  mansion,  and  the  rest  of 
the  house  will  be  let  out.  In  the  cellars 
poor  families  are  crowded  together  ;  some- 
times as  many  as  twenty  people  live  in  one 
room.  If  any  epidemic  breaks  out  among 
them  they  say  "  It  is  the  will  of  God." 
Small-pox  is  rife,  and  there  is  generally 
a  good  deal  of  typhoid  fever.  The  water 
of  the  Neva  is  absolutely  poisonous,  and  yet 


Concerning  St.  Petersburg.  19 

from  the  Neva  St.  Petersburg  depends  for 
the  most  part  for  her  water  supply.  A 
good  trade  is  done  by  selling  drinking  water 
from  the  Duderhoff  hills,  or  from  Tsarskoe 
Selo,  which  is  situated  about  twenty  miles 
from  the  capital,  and  where  there  is  good 
spring  water.  I  must  say  Peter  the  Great 
chose  the  site  for  his  city  with  very  little 
regard  for  the  health  of  the  residents. 


20 


CHAPTER   IV. 

CONCERNING  TSARSKOE   SELO. 

A  FEW  weeks  after  my  arrival  in  Russia 
we  went  to  Tsarskoe  Selo — the  name  means 
"  The  Tsar's  borough."  It  is  a  pretty  little 
town,  surrounded  by  great  forests,  and  has 
a  population  of  a  couple  of  thousand  souls. 
The  forests  are  for  the  most  part  evergreen, 
though  there  are  also  silver  birch,  oak, 
and  ash  trees.  There  are  two  palaces  in 
this  little  town.  The  Great,  or  Catherine's 
Palace,  and  the  Little,  or  Alexander's  Palace, 
which  she  built  for  her  grandson,  Alexander  I. 
We  resided  in  the  latter.  It  is  a  white 
Grecian  building  with  a  green  roof.  It  is 
situated  in  a  pretty  park,  and  stands  quite 
close  to  the  road.  It  has  two  wings  and  the 
main  body.  In  one  wing  live  the  Emperor, 
Empress,  and  the  children,  with  their  house- 


Concerning  Tsar  shoe  Selo.  21 

holds.  When  I  first  went  to  Russia  the 
children's  suite  was  small,  though  pretty, 
but  now  the  nurseries  at  Tsarskoe  Selo  are 
very  fine,  consisting  of  about  eleven  rooms. 
In  the  bathroom  is  a  stationary  bath  of 
solid  silver,  used  for  the  bigger  children. 
There  is  a  small  silver  bath  for  the  use  of 
whatever  baby  reigns.  Each  child's  name 
is  engraved  upon  it,  so  it  forms  a  historical 
record.  It  was  apparently  bought  for 
Nicholas  L,  and  bears  his  name  and  those 
of  his  family.  We  also  find  the  names  of 
Alexander  II.,  and  of  Marie,  afterwards 
Duchess  of  Edinburgh.  The  last  name 
added  was  that  of  Alexis,  the  little  baby 
who  was  born  in  August,  1904. 

The  walls  of  all  the  new  rooms  are  painted 
in  oil  with  beautifully  executed  friezes  of 
the  same  flowers  as  appear  in  the  chintz, 
interspaced  with  golden  butterflies  or  birds. 
The  bathroom  has  sea-gulls  painted  on  the 
frieze.  At  the  end  of  this  suite  is  the  play 
room.  It  has  eight  windows  overlooking 
the  park  and  gardens.  It  is  all  yellow  and 
green,  like  a  bunch  of  daffodils,  and  has  a 
frieze  of  peacocks  strutting  about  amidst 
greenery,  The  carpet  is  a  pale  sage  green, 


22        Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

unpatterned.  Over  each  window  is  a  panel, 
in  painted  poker  work,  each  representing 
some  scene  in  animal  or  bird  life.  There 
are  two  fireplaces  in  this  great  room,  but 
as  the  rooms  are  all  heated  with  hot  air, 
the  fires  are  not  required  excepting  for 
ventilation. 

Catherine  II.  must  have  loved  lilac,  for 
the  parks  at  Tsarskoe  Selo  are  full  of  it. 
There  are  as  many  as  eight  different  varieties, 
and  in  the  summer  evenings  the  perfume  is 
delicious.  I  have  been  told  that  she  sent 
into  all  countries  and  paid  fabulous  prices 
for  some  of  the  specimens.  However,  they 
have  repaid  the  trouble  she  took.  In  some 
places  the  bushes  look  like  great  bouquets, 
so  full  and  round  are  they,  and  there  are 
several  avenues  lined  on  each  side  with 
it. 

The  park  is  fourteen  miles  in  circum- 
ference. Catherine  had  very  good  ideas 
about  laying  out  a  park  or  gardens,  also 
the  building  of  a  palace.  There  are  great 
halls  and  state-rooms  lined  with  marble. 
There  is  a  great  deal  of  pale-blue  marble 
which  is  so  exceedingly  rare ;  also  pink 
and  yellow  marble.  The  person  who 


Concerning  Tsarskoe  Selo.  23 

"  Dreamt  that  she  dwelt  in  marble  halls  " 
might  awaken  there  and  find  her  dream 
realised. 

The  great  palace  contains  the  far  famed 
Amber-room.  All  the  walls  are  inlaid  with 
mosaic  work  of  amber  in  different  shades. 
Chairs,  tables,  and  ornaments  are  carved 
in  it.  This  room  was  prepared  by  her 
father  for  one  of  the  former  Empresses  of 
Russia.  President  Loubet  had  a  suite  of 
rooms  in  this  palace.  There  are  many  fine 
pictures.  There  is  a  great  banqueting  hall 
with  twenty-eight  windows  in  it,  and  here 
is  the  church  which  the  Imperial  family 
attend. 

Between  the  two  parks  are  the  Little 
Caprice  and  the  Great  Caprice.  The  story 
goes  that  on  one  occasion  Catherine  II., 
walking  with  a  favourite  and  trusted  Minister 
in  the  park,  complained  of  the  flatness  of 
the  country,  saying  that  it  would  give  her 
great  pleasure  to  come  out  the  following 
morning  and  find  a  hill  just  where  she  stood. 
To  hear  was  to  obey.  The  minister  started 
work  immediately.  The  entire  population 
of  the  country  side  was  impressed.  The 
work  was  carried  on  throughout  the  night, 


24       Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

an  arched  way  of  stone  was  raised  across  the 
road,  by  excavating  and  digging,  and  a  hill 
actually  appeared  before  morning.  This  hill 
was  afterwards  covered  with  trees  and 
shrubs. 

Catherine  II.  was  an  autocrat.  She  had 
a  great  objection  to  members  of  her  house- 
hold getting  married.  On  one  occasion  a 
lady  and  gentleman  belonging  to  her  suite 
became  engaged.  For  a  long  time  Catherine 
refused  her  consent  to  their  marriage,  but 
finally  agreed  on  the  express  condition  that 
she  was  allowed  to  make  all  arrangements 
for  the  wedding.  To  this  proposition  they 
gladly  consented.  The  ceremony  concluded, 
she  led  the  way  down  to  the  frozen  Neva, 
where  she  had  caused  an  ice  house  to  be 
built.  In  this  terrible  abode  she  incar- 
cerated them.  Months  after,  when  the  Neva 
was  in  flood,  their  dead  bodies  were  recovered 
and  buried. 

The  Great  Caprice  is  crowned  by  a  Chinese 
pagoda,  and  in  the  park  are  Chinese  bridges, 
a  model  of  a  Chinese  village,  and  a  theatre 
in  the  Chinese  style.  Even  in  Catherine's 
reign  the  Far  East  seemed  to  have  attrac- 
tions for  the  Russian  mind.  It  is  more  than 


Concerning  Tsarskoe  Selo.  25 

a  hundred  years  since  she  died,  and  the 
cost  of  producing  and  bringing  all  these 
things  from  China  must  have  been  enormous. 

In  Gat  china,  the  Dowager  Empress's  place 
in  the  Duderhoff  hills,  there  is  a  Chinese 
gallery,  all  the  contents  of  which  were 
collected  by  Paul  I.,  Catherine's  most  un- 
happy son. 

Paul  was  a  curious  mixture.  Some  of  his 
laws  only  came  into  force  within  the  past 
ten  years,  and  are  wise  and  good.  He 
ordained  that  only  the  children  and  grand- 
children of  Emperors  should  bear  the  title 
of  Grand  Duke,  and  have  an  allowance  from 
the  country.  After  that  they  should  be 
known  as  Prince  and  Princess,  with  the 
Christian  name ;  they  should  then  have 
no  allowance  from  the  country  and  should 
be  free  to  marry  amongst  the  nobility.  On 
the  other  hand,  he  had  so  exalted  an  opinion 
of  his  own  importance  that  he  commanded 
that  when  his  carriage  or  sleigh  passed  all 
other  carriages  they  should  be  brought 
to  a  standstill  and  the  occupants  should 
kneel  on  the  road,  without  regard  to  age,  sex, 
or  infirmity. 

Koskiusko,  the  Polish  rebel,  lived  in  his 


26        Si*  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

reign.  He  was  arrested  and  imprisoned, 
and  we  find  Paul  liberating  him  on  his 
promise  never  again  to  take  up  arms  against 
him.  Koskiusko  loyally  kept  his  word-  and 
refused  to  join  in  any  plot  for  the  liberation 
of  his  country. 

A  man  of  such  an  extraordinary  character 
as  Paul  could  hardly  have  been  an  unmixed 
blessing  in  the  domestic  circle.  He  was 
twice  married  and  had  a  large  family.  Two 
of  his  sons,  Alexander  and  Constantine, 
formed  a  resolution  to  force  him  to  resign. 
With  this  object  in  view  the  sons  entered 
the  palace  one  night,  each  at  the  head  of 
his  regiment.  They  stationed  themselves  in 
the  rooms  at  either  side  of  Paul's  bedroom, 
and  sent  in  a  deputation  to  try  to  prevail 
upon  him  to  resign  the  crown  in  favour  of 
his  eldest  son  Alexander.  It  is  probable 
that  he  could  not  see  the  rights  of  his  eldest 
son  so  clearly  as  Alexander  did,  so  the 
deputation,  being  unsuccessful,  found  a  pillow 
a  handy  argument,  and  smothered  him. 
When  they  left  the  room  they  gave  orders 
that  Alexander  was  forthwith  to  be  pro- 
claimed Emperor  as  the  old  Emperor  was 
dead. 


Concerning  Tsarskoe  Selo.  27 

Alexander  I.  had  no  children.  His  end 
is  uncertain  ;  he  died  suddenly  on  a  voyage. 
For  some  unknown  reason  there  was  no  lying 
in  state,  nor  was  the  body  embalmed,  so 
the  peasants  throughout  Russia  believed 
that  he  did  not  die  but  went  on  a  pilgrimage 
to  Siberia,  that  his  life  has  been  miraculously 
lengthened  out,  and  at  some  time  when 
Russia  has  need  of  him  he  will  come  forth 
and  vanquish  his  enemies,  as  he  defeated 
Napoleon  Bonaparte.  There  is  reason  to 
believe  that  he  committed  suicide  and  his 
face  was  too  much  disfigured  to  be  seen. 

He  was  succeeded  by  his  younger  brother 
Nicholas,  against  whom  England  fought  in 
the  Crimean  War.  Constantine  should  have 
succeeded  Alexander,  but  he  had  fallen  in 
love  with  and  married  a  Polish  countess, 
therefore  renounced  his  claim  to  the 
throne. 

Peter  the  Great,  and  all  his  successors 
with  one  exception,  lie  in  the  Fortress  Church 
of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  in  St.  Petersburg. 
This  church  is  kept  in  most  beautiful  order. 
Fresh  flowers  are  always  there,  and  the  holy 
lamps  are  kept  burning  continually  on  the 
tombs.  The  church  itself  is  very  pretty 


28        Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

and  contains  many  specimens  of  Peter  the 
Great's  work.  Indeed,  we  find  so  much 
work  attributed  to  him  that  the  question 
arises,  "  How  did  he  find  time  for  so  much 
handicraft?" 


29 


CHAPTER  V. 

CONCERNING   EASTER. 

THAT  year  spring  came  unusually  early  and 
when  we  returned  to  St.  Petersburg  for 
Easter  the  river  was  already  open  for  navi- 
gation, so  we  did  not  see  the  ceremony. 

Easter  is  the  great  feast  of  the  year  in 
Holy  Russia.  The  long  severe  fast  of  seven 
weeks  is  over.  Many  people  in  Russia  eat 
no  meat,  butter,  eggs,  or  milk,  all  through 
Lent.  In  the  palace,  however,  we  only 
observed  three  weeks — the  first,  fourth,  and 
last.  Many  of  the  suite  also  fasted  every 
Wednesday  and  Friday.  The  week  before 
Lent  begins  is  called  "  Butter  week." 

Russian  pancakes  are  served  twice  a  day. 
The  Russians  begin  their  lunch  or  dinner 
with  pancakes,  and  they  are  eaten  with 
caviare  and  sour  cream.  During  the  sixth 
week  the  great  fair  called  Verba  is  held. 


3O        Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

The  word  means  willow,  and  the  fair  is  so 
called  because  great  bunches  of  willow  wands 
covered  with  catkins  are  sold.  These  wands 
are  carried  into  the  churches  on  Palm 
Sunday  and  are  blessed  by  the  priests  ;  they 
are  then  carried  home  and  carefully  placed 
in  jars  of  water  in  the  windows  of  the  houses. 
They  soon  begin  to  bud  and  throw  out  roots. 
They  are  allowed  to  remain  until  Whitsun- 
tide, when  they  are  taken  into  the  country 
and  planted.  These  wands  are  supposed  to 
be  typical  of  the  palms  spread  before  our 
Saviour. 

At  the  Verba  one  finds  many  pretty  and 
curious  things — Russian  lace  and  needle- 
work may  be  picked  up  at  very  moderate 
prices  ;  there  are  also  quaint  Russian  toys 
and  all  manner  of  wooden  articles.  They 
also  sell  little  figures  in  small  bottles  ;  these 
figures  jump  up  and  down  in  the  funniest 
fashion  when  the  piece  of  skin  on  the  top 
of  the  bottles  is  pressed  down.  They  are 
called  American  devils,  but  last  year  the 
name  was  changed  to  Japanese  devils.  There 
are  also  thousands  of  the  coloured  eggs 
which  are  indispensable  to  a  Russian  Easter. 
We  used  to  colour  a  couple  of  hundred  every 


Concerning  Easter.  31 

Good  Friday,  in  the  nurseries.  It  was  a 
great  pleasure  to  the  children,  but  rather 
dirty  work.  However,  Easter,  like  Christmas, 
comes  but  once  a  year. 

On  Thursday  in  Passion  Week  the  children 
went  to  Holy  Communion.  This  yearly 
Communion  is  always  a  great  festival  and 
holiday  in  Russia,  for  the  Russian  church 
administers  the  Sacrament  only  once  a  year. 
In  preparation  for  it  the  candidate  fasts 
for  a  week,  going  to  church  both  morning 
and  evening  for  the  seven  days.  He  then 
confesses  his  sins  to  the  priest,  receives 
absolution  and  asks  pardon  of  all  in  the 
house  who  might  have  been  offended  during 
the  past  year.  On  the  morning  of  the  day 
a  special  costume  is  donned,  married  women 
generally  keep  their  wedding  dress  for  those 
occasions  ;  they  also  wear  a  cap,  while  the 
unmarried  women  go  bare-headed  to  the 
Sacrament. 

The  bread  is  broken  into  the  wine  and 
water  and  is  administered  with  a  spoon,  a 
napkin  having  been  tied  round  the  neck  of 
the  communicant.  On  returning  from  the 
church  all  the  friends  come  forward  and 
present  their  congratulations,  flowers  and 


32        Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

bonbons  are  sometimes  given,  and  the  rest 
of  the  day  is  observed  as  a  holiday.  The 
rite  of  Confirmation  is  administered  imme- 
diately after  baptism,  and  children  up  to  the 
age  of  seven  years  can  receive  the  Communion 
as  often  as  every  month.  After  that  age 
confession  and  church-going  are  essential, 
before  receiving  the  Communion. 

The  little  Grand  Duchess  Olga  made  her 
first  confession  in  Moscow,  during  Lent, 
1903,  and  she  received  a  gift  from  the 
children  of  Moscow,  of  an  icon  of  the  Virgin 
Mary.  Face  and  hands  are  painted,  all 
draperies,  etc.,  are  executed  in  pearls. 

The  Midnight  Mass  is  celebrated  the  night 
between  Easter  Saturday  and  Sunday.  It 
lasts  for  about  three  hours,  beginning  at 
eleven  o'clock  at  night.  A  bier,  containing 
a  figure  representing  the  dead  body  of  our 
Lord,  is  carried  into  the  church.  The  bier 
in  St.  Isaak's  Cathedral  is  of  solid  silver, 
weighs  a  couple  of  tons,  and  was  presented 
by  the  Cossacks.  It  is  moved  on  wheels. 
Each  person  on  coming  into  the  church 
kisses  the  painted  hands  and  feet  and  kneels 
and  prays  for  a  few  seconds.  The  Mass 
has  begun,  the  church  is  dimly  lighted. 


Concerning  Easter.  33 

Just  at  midnight  the  priest  chants  "  Christ 
is  risen/'  the  choir  answers  "  He  is  risen 
indeed."  Each  kisses  his  neighbour,  and  in 
a  moment  the  scene  is  changed  from  sorrow 
and  mourning  to  joy  and  gladness.  The 
dead  Christ  is  carried  out  of  the  church. 
Chandeliers  are  all  fitted  with  a  piece  of 
prepared  cord  running  round  them ;  this 
cord  is  fired  and  in  a  moment  all  the  candles 
are  alight.  Lighted  tapers  are  put  into  the 
hands  of  the  worshippers,  a  Te  Deum  is 
sung,  after  which  all  return  home  and  eat  a 
heavy  supper. 

All  the  food  must  be  bought  on  Easter 
Saturday,  as  nothing  which  has  been  in  the 
house  during  Lent  can  be  eaten.  A  priest 
visits  the  houses  of  well-to-do  parishioners 
and  blesses  all  food,  receiving  a  fee  for  so 
doing.  He  then  goes  into  the  markets  and 
blesses  everything  which  is  for  sale. 

The  supper  generally  consists  of  cold  roast 
veal,  ham,  chickens,  hard-boiled  eggs,  various 
kinds  of  cakes  all  decorated  with  bunches 
of  paper  flowers  bought  at  the  Verba,  and 
wine,  and  quass,  which  is  a  kind  of  cider. 
They  say  that  blessed  food  cannot  do  one  any 
harm,  so  it  may  be  their  faith  which  keeps 

3 


34       Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

the  people  from  indigestion,  certainly  I  have 
seen  dyspeptic  people  eat  heartily  of  this 
supper  and  suffer  no  inconvenience.  It  seems 
that  the  mind  has  great  influence  over  the 
body,  and  the  meal  is  eaten  with  much  joy 
and  laughter.  In  workshops  the  proprietor 
prepares  the  supper  and  offers  it  to  his 
employees. 

The  Greek  Church  orders  that  no  service 
should  be  held  on  Easter  Sunday  ;  however, 
the  church  bells  ring  all  day.  Many  Russian 
people  go  on  Easter  Sunday  to  the  English 
and  Lutheran  churches. 

During  Easter  week  the  Russian  never 
goes  out  without  a  hard-boiled  and  coloured 
egg  in  his  pocket.  On  meeting  an  acquaint- 
ance he  says  "  Christ  is  risen  "  ;  the  answer 
comes,  they  then  kiss  each  other  three 
times  and  exchange  eggs.  The  shops  are 
all  closed  for  that  week  except  for  a  couple 
of  hours  in  the  morning,  and  every  one 
makes  holiday.  On  Easter  Monday  the 
ceremony  of  greeting  the  troops  is  held  in 
the  Winter  Palace.  In  one  of  the  great  halls 
the  soldiers,  numbering  about  five  thousand, 
are  drawn  up.  The  Emperor  advances, 
shakes  hands,  and  says,  "  Christ  is  risen," 


Concerning  Easter.  35 

the  soldier  replies  ;  the  Emperor  kisses  him 
three  times,  and  the  man  then  advances 
to  the  Empress,  kisses  her  hand,  presents 
a  hard-boiled  egg  and  receives  from  her  a 
painted  porcelain  one.  He  then  files  out  of 
the  room,  and  another  takes  his  place. 
So  it  goes  on  until  they  have  all  personally 
saluted  the  Emperor  and  Empress.  It  is 
very  wearisome.  On  Easter  Sunday  the 
Emperor  kisses  all  the  men  of  his  house- 
hold, and  the  Empress  kisses  all  the  women. 
One  day  during  Eastertide  we  were  out 
driving  on  the  Nevski  Prospect,  and  the  little 
Grand  Duchess  Olga  was  not  good.  I  was 
speaking  to  her,  trying  to  induce  her  to  sit 
down  quietly,  when  suddenly  she  did  so, 
folding  her  hands  in  front  of  her.  In  a  few 
seconds  she  said  to  me,  "  Did  you  see  that 
Policeman  ?  "  I  told  her  that  was  nothing 
extraordinary,  and  that  the  police  would 
not  touch  her.  She  replied,  "  but  this  one 
was  writing  something ;  I  was  afraid  he 
might  have  been  writing  '  I  saw  Olga,  and 
she  was  very  naughty.'  '  I  explained  that 
this  was  very  unlikely,  and  she  reminded 
me,  rather  reproachfully,  that  one  day,  some 
time  before,  she  had  seen  a  drunken  woman 

3* 


36       Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

arrested  in  the  street,  and  had  wished  me 
to  tell  the  police  not  to  hurt  her.  I  had 
refused  to  interfere,  saying  that  the  woman 
was  naughty  and  the  police  quite  right  in 
taking  her.  I  now  explained  that  one  had 
to  be  quite  big  and  very  naughty  indeed 
before  the  police  would  take  one  to  prison. 
On  returning  home  she  made  particular 
inquiries  as  to  whether  a  policeman  had 
come  while  she  was  out.  When  she  went  to 
see  her  parents  that  afternoon  she  recounted 
the  whole  story  to  her  father,  telling  him  that 
I  said  it  was  quite  possible  to  live  without 
going  to  prison.  She  then  asked  her  father 
if  he  had  ever  been  a  prisoner ;  the  Emperor 
answered  that  he  had  never  been  quite 
naughty  enough  to  go  to  prison.  Her  remark 
then  was  :  "  Oh  !  how  very  good  you  must 
have  been,  too." 

We  stayed  about  two  days  in  St.  Peters- 
burg and  then  returned  to  Tsarskoe  Selo. 
Spring  comes  on  so  quickly  in  Russia  that 
on  our  return  the  whole  country  was 
green  and  lovely,  the  birds  were  singing 
and  every  place  was  glorious  with  the  beauty 
of  spring  time. 

The  wife  of  Alexander  II.  loved  cowslips. 


Concerning  Easter.  37 

She  imported  some  from  Germany  and  had 
them  planted  in  the  park  at  Tsarskoe  Selo. 
They  throve  very  well  and  are  now  found 
as  far  away  as  Peterhoff,  which  is  about 
thirty  miles  on  the  other  side  of  St.  Peters- 
burg. The  French  call  them  the  cuckoo 
flower,  and  both  French  and  Swiss  have  a 
great  love  for  the  pretty,  fragrant,  yellow 
flower.  A  Swiss  told  me  once  that  he 
considered  it  the  most  poetic  flower  that 
blows.  There  are  no  primroses  in  Russia. 
The  climate  is  too  dry  for  them.  Attempts 
have  been  made  to  naturalise  them,  but 
without  success. 

We  stayed  at  Tsarskoe  Selo  till  early  in 
May,  when  we  went  to  Peterhoff ,  the  summer 
residence  in  the  Gulf  of  Finland.  Here 
there  are  many  Imperial  residences  and  a 
great  palace  used  for  state  occasions.  The 
park  is  bounded  on  one  side  by  the  tideless 
Baltic.  On  the  horizon  is  Kronstadt,  sur- 
rounded by  its  forts.  There  is  a  little  church 
of  England,  and  a  chaplain  lived  there  during 
the  summer  months  and  worked  among  the 
sailors.  Kronstadt  is  the  second  strongest 
place  in  the  world,  and  until  quite  lately 
was  considered  impregnable  for  six  months 


38       Six  Years  at  the  Russian-^Court. 

of  the  year  on  account  of  the  ice.  However, 
the  ice  breakers  have  altered  all  that.  The 
strongest  place  in  the  world  is,  of  course, 
Gibraltar. 

The  little  Grand  Duchesses  went  to  church 
regularly  from  the  time  they  were  babies. 
It  was  during  this  year  that  the  Grand 
Duchess  Olga  began  to  notice  what  was  said 
there.  She  came  home  one  day  and  told 
me  "  the  priest  prayed  for  mama  and  papa, 
and  Tatiana  and  me,  the  soldiers  and  the 
sailors,  the  poor  sick  people,  and  the  apples 
and  pears,  and  Madame  G."  I  exclaimed 
at  this  last,  so  she  said  :  "  But  I  heard  them 
say  '  Marie  Feodorovna.'  '  I  said  I  thought 
they  meant  her  grandmama.  She  said, 
"  No,  Amama  is  called  Amama,  and  your 
Majesty,  but  not  Marie  Feodorovna."  I 
said  "  and  also  Marie  Feodorovna,"  but  she 
now  replied  "  no  one  has  more  than  two 
names,  and  I  am  quite  sure  Madame  G. 
would  be  very  much  pleased  if  she  knew 
that  the  priests  prayed  for  her  in  church." 

In  Peterhoff  during  the  hot  June  weather 
the  little  Grand  Duchess  Marie  was  born. 
She  was  born  good,  I  often  think,  with  the 
very  smallest  trace  of  original  sin  possible. 


Concerning  Easter.  39 

The  Grand  Duke  Vladimir  called  her  "  The 
Amiable  Baby,"  for  she  was  always  so  good 
and  smiling  and  gay.  She  is  a  very  fine 
and  pretty  child,  with  great,  dark-blue  eyes 
and  the  fine  level  dark  brows  of  the  Romanoff 
family.  Lately  speaking  of  the  child,  a 
gentleman  said  that  she  had  the  face  of  one 
of  Botticelli's  angels.  But  good  and  sweet- 
tempered  as  she  is,  she  is  also  very  human, 
as  the  following  stories  will  show.  When 
she  was  a  very  little  child,  she  was  one 
day  with  her  sister  in  the  Empress's  boudoir, 
where  the  Emperor  and  Empress  were  at  tea. 
The  Empress  had  tiny  vanilla-flavoured 
wafers  called  biblichen,  of  which  the  children 
were  particularly  fond,  but  they  were  not 
allowed  to  ask  for  anything  from  the  tea- 
table.  The  Empress  sent  for  me,  and  when 
I  went  down  little  Marie  was  standing  in 
the  middle  of  the  room,  her  eyes  drowned 
in  tears  and  something  was  swallowed 
hastily.  "  Dere !  I've  eaten  it  all  up," 
said  she,  "  you  tant  det  it  now."  I  was 
properly  shocked,  and  suggested  bed  at  once 
as  a  suitable  punishment.  The  Empress 
said,  "  Very  well,  take  her,"  but  the 
Emperor  intervened,  and  begged  that  she 


40       Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

might  be  allowed  to  remain,  saying,  I 
was  always  afraid  of  the  wings  growing, 
and  I  am  glad  to  see  she  is  only  a  human 
child."  She  was  constantly  held  up  as  an 
example  to  her  elder  sisters.  They  declared 
she  was  a  step-sister.  Vainly  I  pointed  out 
that  in  all  fairy  tales  it  was  the  elder  sisters 
who  were  step-sisters  and  the  third  was 
the  real  sister.  They  would  not  listen,  and 
shut  her  out  from  all  their  plays.  I  told 
them  that  they  could  not  expect  her  to  stand 
that  kind  of  treatment,  and  that  some  day 
they  would  be  punished.  One  day  they 
made  a  house  with  chairs  at  one  end  of  the 
nursery  and  shut  out  poor  Marie,  telling  her 
she  might  be  the  footman,  but  that  she 
should  stay  outside.  I  made  another  house 
at  the  other  end  for  baby,  then  a  few  months 
old,  and  her,  but  her  eyes  always  kept 
travelling  to  the  other  end  of  the  room 
and  the  attractive  play  going  on  there. 
She  suddenly  dashed  across  the  room,  rushed 
into  the  house,  dealt  each  sister  a  slap  in 
the  face,  and  ran  into  the  next  room,  coming 
back  dressed  in  a  doll's  cloak  and  hat,  and 
with  her  hands  full  of  small  toys.  "  I  won't 
be  a  footman,  I'll  be  the  kind,  good  aunt, 


Concerning  Easter.  41 

who  brings  presents,"  she  said.  She  then 
distributed  her  gifts,  kissed  her  "  nieces/' 
and  sat  down.  The  other  children  looked 
shamefacedly  from  one  to  the  other,  and 
then  Tatiana  said,  "  We  were  too  cruel  to 
poor  little  Marie,  and  she  really  couldn't 
help  beating  us."  They  had  learned  their 
lesson — from  that  hour  they  respected  her 
rights  in  the  family. 

From  her  earliest  age  her  love  for  her 
father  has  been  most  marked.  When  she 
was  barely  able  to  toddle  she  would  always 
try  to  escape  from  the  nurseries  to  go  to 
papa,  and  whenever  she  saw  him  in  the 
garden  or  park  she  would  call  after  him.  If 
he  heard  or  saw  her,  he  always  waited  for 
her,  and  would  carry  her  for  a  little. 

When  he  was  ill  in  the  Crimea  her  grief 
at  not  seeing  him  was  excessive.  I  had  to 
keep  the  door  of  the  day  nursery  locked  or 
she  would  have  escaped  into  the  corridor 
and  disturbed  him  with  her  efforts  to  get  to 
him.  Every  evening  after  tea  she  sat  on 
the  floor  just  inside  the  nursery  door  listening 
intently  for  any  sounds  from  his  room.  If 
she  heard  his  voice  by  any  chance  she  would 
stretch  out  her  little  arms,  and  call  "Papa, 


42       Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

Papa,"  and  her  rapture  when  she  was  allowed 
to  see  him  was  great.  When  the  Empress 
came  to  see  the  children  on  the  first  evening 
after  the  illness  had  been  pronounced 
typhoid  fever,  she  happened  to  be  wearing 
a  miniature  of  the  Emperor  set  as  a  brooch. 
In  the  midst  of  her  sobs  and  tears  little  Marie 
caught  sight  of  this  ;  she  climbed  on  the 
Empress's  knee,  and  covered  the  pictured 
face  with  kisses,  and  on  no  evening  all  through 
his  illness  would  she  go  to  bed  without  kissing 
this  miniature. 

Peterhoff  is  exceedingly  pretty,  but  its 
beauty  is  chiefly  man's  work.  There  are 
well  laid  out  parks  and  gardens,  and  the 
famous  fountains,  which  equal,  if  not,  as  the 
Russians  affirm,  surpass  in  beauty  those 
of  Versailles.  The  Baltic  is  tideless  and 
just  there  it  is  too  landlocked  to  be  any- 
thing more  than  a  great  lake  ;  the  place 
itself  is  relaxing  and  damp,  therefore  it  is 
not  satisfactory  as  a  seaside  resort. 


43 


CHAPTER  VI. 

CONCERNING     PETERHOFF. 

PETERHOFF  has  also  historical  interests. 
Peter  the  Great  loved  the  place,  and  built 
there  two  residences  for  himself.  His  ideas 
on  this  subject  were  very  humble  and  the 
houses  which  contented  him  were  very  small 
and  plain.  One  of  these  little  cottages  in 
Peterhoff  is  built  in  the  Dutch  style.  The 
walls  are  tiled  in  blue  and  white ;  the 
kitchen  contains  a  dresser  with  blue  and 
white  china,  and  there  are  many  brass 
cooking  utensils,  all  kept  shining  and  bright. 
There  are  many  specimens  of  his  carving 
and  other  work.  In  front  of  the  door  is  a 
fish  pond  in  which  are  numbers  of  carp. 
These  fish  are  so  tamed  and  trained  that  at 
the  sound  of  a  bell  they  come  swimming  up 
to  be  fed. 

Lately   one   of   the   rooms   in   this   house 


44       Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

was  burned  down.  Two  gentlemen  went  to 
the  place,  one  of  them  lit  a  cigarette  and 
threw  away  the  still  burning  match.  The 
woodwork  of  the  house  is  naturally  very 
old  and  thoroughly  impregnated  with  turpen- 
tine, and,  of  course,  highly  inflammable  ;  a 
great  deal  of  damage  was  done  before  the  fire 
could  be  got  under. 

The  second  of  Peter  the  Great's  houses  is 
called  "  The  Hermitage."  It  has  a  moat 
all  round  it  and  a  drawbridge. 

He  disliked  servants  waiting  in  the  room 
during  meals,  so  he  designed  a  large  round 
table  with  an  ingenious  arrangement  of 
pulleys  by  which  each  plate  and  dish  could 
be  removed  and  changed  from  downstairs. 
The  table  would  seat  about  twenty  people, 
and  each  place  was  furnished  with  a  bell 
which  the  guest  was  supposed  to  ring  when 
the  plates  required  changing.  The  worst  of 
the  arrangement  was  that  no  table-cloth 
could  be  used,  but  I  should  think  that  matter 
would  trouble  Peter  the  Great  very  little  ;  he 
was,  after  all,  very  much  of  a  barbarian. 

In  the  large  park  is  "  Mon  Plaisir,"  the 
summer  residence  of  Catherine  the  Great. 
In  her  days  the  park  was  a  wood  and  here 


Concerning  Peterhoff.  45 

she  used  to  chase  the  deer.  On  one  occasion 
a  poor  hunted  deer  took  refuge  in  the  house 
and  with  his  antler  knocked  a  piece  of  the 
gilt  moulding  off  the  wall.  The  place  is  still 
shown  to  visitors.  There  is  a  very  pretty 
little  garden  in  front  of  the  house  with  several 
fountains.  The  custodian  asks  the  visitors 
most  politely  to  sit  down  on  a  certain  bench. 
Should  you  be  so  unwary  as  to  do  so  you 
find  yourself  immediately  surrounded  by  a 
shower  of  water.  The  wicked  man  has 
touched  a  spring  and  turned  on  a  fountain 
which  plays  all  round  the  seat,  and  there 
you  must  stop  until  he  turns  it  off  again. 
It  was  at  Peterhoff  that  Catherine  awaited 
the  news  of  her  husband's  murder.  She 
had  been  separated  from  him  for  some  time  ; 
he  was  a  weak,  dissolute  young  man,  and 
the  country  was  on  the  verge  of  a  revolution. 
She  was  unscrupulous,  and  she  arranged 
for  his  death.  Opportunity  was  found  in  a 
drunken  brawl,  and  he  was  stabbed  by  one 
of  his  friends,  who  immediately  rode  to 
Peterhoff,  where  he  arrived  early  in  the 
morning.  Catherine  took  horse  and  rode  to 
St.  Petersburg,  announced  the  death  of  the 
Emperor,  and  that  she  herself  would  hence- 


46       Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

forth  reign.  She  settled  the  grievances  of 
the  soldiers,  quelled  all  mutiny  and  re- 
bellion, and  ruled  with  a  strong  hand. 

About  four  or  five  miles  from  Peterhoff 
is  Subswina  Datcha  (my  own  villa),  a  little 
rococo  house  built  and  furnished  in  the 
First  Empire  style.  The  furniture  alone 
would  realise  a  very  considerable  fortune 
if  sold  in  London.  It  is  most  beautiful ; 
there  are  many  very  valuable  pictures,  and 
much  really  lovely  china,  including  some 
great  vases  of  beautiful  old  Dresden  china. 
The  house  is  surrounded  by  well  wooded  and 
excellently  kept  parks  and  gardens,  among 
which  is  a  pretty  rose  garden.  It  was  built 
by  order  of  Nicholas  I.,  a  ball  was  given  there 
for  his  son's  twenty-first  birthday ;  they 
danced  on  a  broad  wooden  bridge  which 
spans  the  road. 

One  of  the  delights  of  the  children  was  to 
go  there  to  spend  the  afternoon  and  take 
tea,  especially  during  hay-making  time,  when 
they  would  have  rides  in  the  hay-cocks, 
and  run  up  and  down  the  grassy  slopes. 
Another  great  delight  was  to  visit  the  farm, 
see  the  cows  milked,  feed  the  fowls,  collect 
eggs,  and  fill  baskets  with  apples.  Two 


Concerning  Peterhoff.  47 

years  ago  the  farmer's  wife,  a  most  amiable 
woman,  was  bringing  up  by  hand  four  kittens 
whose  mother  had  been  killed.  When  the 
little  Grand  Duchesses  went  over  in  the 
morning  on  their  Shetland  ponies  or  bicycles, 
the  kittens  were  always  brought  out,  four 
bottles  of  milk  were  produced  and  each 
child,  bottle  of  milk  in  one  hand  and  a  kitten 
comfortably  tucked  under  her  arm,  would 
quietly  take  a  place  in  the  milk-cart  and  go 
for  a  drive  round  the  farm-yards,  feeding 
the  kittens  in  the  meantime. 

When  the  Grand  Duchess  Marie  was  a  baby 
we  went  to  spend  a  day  at  Robshai.  There 
were  manoeuvres  going  on  at  that  time  to 
which  the  Emperor  and  Empress  went,  and 
one  day  we  drove  off  in  a  carriage  drawn 
by  four  horses  abreast,  and  after  two  hours 
fast  driving  we  reached  Robshai.  The  palace 
is  large  but  is  seldom  occupied,  and  there 
are  nice  gardens.  A  short  time  afterwards 
we  spent  a  few  days  at  Krasnoe  Selo,  where 
there  were  also  manoeuvres.  Krasnoe  Selo 
means  "  The  Pretty  Village  "  —a  misnomer, 
if  ever  there  was  one.  It  is  a  miserable 
collection  of  dirty  wooden  huts,  each  standing 
a  little  way  back  from  the  road  and  with  a 


48        Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

pool  of  stagnant  water  standing  before  it. 
No  trace  of  a  garden,  not  even  a  cabbage  to 
be  seen.  There  is  a  rather  pretty  little  park 
with  numbers  of  rowan  trees,  and  here  we 
used  to  walk  every  morning. 

When  Marie  was  a  fortnight  old  she  was 
baptised  in  the  church  in  the  Great  Palace 
in  Peterhoff.  The  ceremony,  which  is  a 
most  imposing  one,  lasted  for  a  couple  of 
hours,  or  rather  more.  The  Empress  had 
made  arrangements  for  me  to  go  into  the 
church  by  a  particular  door  and  to  return 
by  the  same.  Accordingly,  on  the  appointed 
day,  clad  in  a  white  silk  dress,  I  took  my 
place  in  the  carriage  and  was  driven  to  the 
church.  The  Cossack  who  was  on  guard 
would  not  allow  the  carriage  to  pass ;  I 
spoke  no  Russian,  and  I  thought  that  perhaps 
I  might  be  allowed  to  pass  in  on  foot.  I 
therefore  got  out  of  the  carriage.  But  no  ! 
he  lowered  his  bayonet  and  blocked  the 
way.  There  I  stood  in  my  white  dress  in 
the  road,  with  the  assembled  crowd  gazing 
at  me.  I  did  not  know  my  way  round  to 
any  other  door,  but  at  last  I  saw  an  officer 
whose  face  I  knew,  having  seen  him  on  guard 
at  the  palace.  I  made  my  way  to  him, 


Concerning  Peterhoff.  49 

addressed  him  in  French  and  told  him  my 
dilemma.  The  officer  was  exceedingly  kind 
and  took  me  through  the  guards,  and  into 
the  church  itself,  where  the  priests  and 
bishops  were  assembled.  They  were  engaged 
in  combing  out  their  long  locks.  One  of  them 
came  to  me  and  in  a  wonderful  mixture  of 
tongues  asked  me  how  hot  the  water  should 
be.  I  answered  him  in  French  and  English, 
but  he  did  not  seem  to  understand.  I 
then  showed  him  on  my  fingers  the  number 
of  degrees,  and  a  group  of  interested  and 
excited  priests  prepared  the  font  for  the  child. 
Presently  in  came  all  the  invited  guests — 
ambassadors  and  their  wives,  all  in  the 
dresses  of  their  various  courts.  The  little 
Chinese  lady  looked  very  sweet  and  bright. 
She  wore  a  gorgeous  blue-figured  silk  Kimono, 
and  had  a  little  round  blue  cap  on  her  head, 
a  red  flower  over  one  ear  and  a  white  one  over 
the  other.  The  Roman  Catholic  church  was 
represented  by  a  cardinal  with  his  red  hat 
and  soutane,  and  the  head  of  the  Lutheran 
Church  in  Russia  was  also  present,  wearing 
a  black  gown  with  white  ruffles.  The  Poles 
are  for  the  most  part  Roman  Catholic,  and 
the  Finns  Lutheran  or  Reformed  church. 


5o        Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

There  were  also  present  the  suites  of  the 
various  courts.  The  Dowager  and  young 
Empress  have  five  hundred  ladies  belonging 
to  their  court — "  Demoiselles  d'honneur  " 
as  they  are  called.  These  ladies  all  dress 
alike  on  such  occasions,  in  scarlet  velvet 
trains  embroidered  in  gold,  with  petticoats 
of  white  satin.  While  the  elder  ladies,  "  Les 
dames  de  la  cour,"  wear  dark  green,  em- 
broidered in  gold. 

When  all  were  assembled,  the  small  heroine 
was  carried  into  the  church  by  Princess 
Galitzin,  the  senior  lady  of  the  Court. 
She  carried  a  pillow  of  cloth  of  gold,  on  which 
reposed  the  little  Marie  Nicolaivna  in  the 
full  glory  of  her  lace  robes  lined  with  pink 
silk,  and  wearing  a  little  close-fitting  cap  or 
bonnet.  The  Emperor,  the  Dowager 
Empress,  the  other  god-parents  and  all 
the  Grand  Dukes  and  Duchesses  and  foreign 
royalties  followed.  According  to  the  law 
of  the  Russian  Church  the  parents  are  not 
allowed  to  remain  in  the  church  during 
the  baptism,  so  the  Emperor,  having  re- 
ceived the  congratulations  of  his  relations, 
withdrew  from  the  church,  returning  after- 
wards for  the  Confirmation,  and  to  bestow 


Concerning  Peter  ho  ff.  51 

the  Order  of  St.  Anne  upon  his  little  daughter. 
The  baby  was  then  undressed  to  her  little 
shirt,  which  was  the  same  that  the  Emperor 
had  worn  at  his  baptism.  It  was,  alas ! 
stolen  from  the  church  that  day  and  never 
recovered.  She  was  then  dipped  three  times 
in  the  font,  the  hair  was  cut  in  four  places, 
in  the  form  of  a  cross.  What  was  cut  off 
was  rolled  in  wax  and  thrown  into  the  font. 
According  to  Russian  superstition  the  good 
or  evil  future  of  the  child's  life  depends  on 
whether  the  hair  sinks  or  swims.  Little 
Marie's  hair  behaved  in  an  orthodox  fashion 
and  all  sank  at  once,  so  there  is  no  need 
for  alarm  concerning  her  future.  The  child 
was  then  brought  behind  the  screen,  where 
she  was  dressed  in  entirely  fresh  clothing, 
and  the  robe  of  cloth  of  silver  was  put  on 
her  and  the  Mass  proceeded.  She  was  again 
carried  into  the  church  and  anointed  with 
oil.  Her  face,  eyes,  ears,  hands  and  feet, 
were  touched  with  a  fine  brush  dipped  in 
oil.  She  was  now  carried  round  the  church 
three  times  by  the  Dowager  Empress,  sup- 
ported on  each  side  by  the  god- fathers. 
Two  pages  held  up  the  Empress's  train. 
The  Emperor,  who  had  re-entered  the  church 

4* 


52        Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

when  the  baptismal  ceremony  was  over, 
came  forward  and  invested  her  with  her 
Order  in  diamonds,  after  which  the  procession 
retired  in  the  same  order  that  it  had  entered 
the  church.  The  baby  was  brought  to  the 
church  in  a  gilt  and  glass  coach  drawn  by 
six  snow-white  horses,  each  horse  led  by  a 
groom  in  white  and  scarlet  livery  with 
powdered  wig,  and  she  was  escorted  by  a 
guard  of  Cossacks. 

When  I  wished  to  return  by  the  same 
route  I  had  come  the  soldiers  would  not 
allow  me  to  pass,  I  was  therefore  obliged 
to  return  into  the  church.  I  could  not 
remain  there,  so  I  passed  along  the  way 
I  had  seen  the  procession  go,  through  the 
great  state-rooms,  and  presently  was  fortunate 
enough  to  find  some  one  from  the  palace. 
I  explained  my  dilemma,  and  was  left  in 
charge  of  an  elderly  respectable  woman, 
who  I  afterwards  found  was  one  of  the 
servants  of  the  palace,  and  my  guide  said 
he  would  telephone  for  a  carriage.  The 
carriage,  however,  did  not  arrive,  and  to 
return  on  foot  was  out  of  the  question,  for 
one  thing  the  distance  was  too  great,  and  I 
was  not  at  all  sure  of  the  way,  and  did  not 


Concerning  Peterhoff.  53 

know  enough  Russian  to  ask  a  policeman. 
At  about  half-past  three  the  woman  went  off 
to  find  someone  to  help  me ;  she  soon 
returned  with  a  man  who  said,  "  I  no  speak- 
ing English,  I  speaking  German."  I  ex- 
plained that  I  spoke  neither  German  nor 
Russian.  The  question  of  language,  however, 
did  not  trouble  my  Good  Samaritan.  He 
called  an  izvochik,  as  the  street  carriages 
are  called  in  Russian,  put  me  into  it  and 
sent  me  home,  as  he  imagined.  I  was  taken 
to  the  Dowager  Empress's  palace  by  mistake 
at  first,  and  when  at  last  I  arrived  home  I 
had  been  away  in  all  seven  hours,  and  now 
felt  rather  tired  and  hungry. 

The  next  morning  the  news  reached  Peter- 
hoff of  the  death  of  the  Czarovitch,  George 
Alexandrovitch.  This  poor  young  fellow  had 
suffered  from  consumption  for  many  years. 
He  had  lived  for  some  time  in  Egypt,  and 
had  tried  many  other  climates,  but  only  at 
Abbas  Tuman,  in  the  Caucasus,  could  he 
breathe.  His  life  there  was  lonely  and  sad. 
His  mother  and  sisters,  the  Grand  Duchesses 
Olga  and  Xenia,  with  the  latter' s  children, 
used  to  visit  him  every  year,  going  after 
Easter  and  staying  until  the  weather  got 


54        Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

too  hot  for  them.  For  the  climate  is  hot, 
and  the  journey  long  and  difficult,  especially 
for  children.  That  year,  on  account  of  little 
Marie's  birth,  the  journey  had  been  postponed 
till  later  than  usual,  and  the  poor  young 
Grand  Duke  was  awaiting  their  arrival  with 
impatience.  In  a  letter  written  just  before 
his  death  he  said  he  longed  for  the  sound  of 
a  woman's  voice,  the  touch  of  a  woman's 
hand,  and  begged  his  mother  to  come  as 
soon  as  possible  after  the  baptism.  He  was 
keenly  disappointed  that  Marie  was  not  a 
boy,  as  he  felt  the  burden  of  his  heirship 
almost  intolerable. 

Through  a  mistake  the  Emperor  had  named 
him  Czarovitch,  instead  of  Heir  Apparent. 
In  Russia  this  title  can  never  be  withdrawn, 
excepting  when  the  bearer  of  it  becomes 
Emperor.  After  his  death  the  Emperor 
named  his  young  brother  Michael  Heir 
Apparent.  He  has  borne  his  title  with 
great  dignity  and  honour,  but  he  was  very 
glad  to  be  relieved  of  it  by  the  birth  of  the 
tiny  heir,  the  Grand  Duke  Alexis,  on  August 
I2th,  1904. 

On  the  morning  following  the  baptism  the 
Czarovitch  had  got  up   earlier   than  usual. 


Concerning  Peter  ho  ff.  55 

He  felt  better  and  brighter,  and,  notwith- 
standing the  remonstrances  of  his  valet, 
took  a  ride  on  his  bicycle.  He  rode  down 
a  hill,  and  on  reaching  the  bottom  of  it 
suddenly  fell  from  his  bicycle.  An  old 
peasant  woman  going  to  his  villa  with  milk, 
accompanied  by  her  grandson,  were  the 
sole  witnesses  of  the  accident.  She  ran  to 
his  assistance,  and  found  blood  pouring 
from  his  mouth.  She  despatched  her  grand- 
son to  the  villa  for  help,  and  sitting  on  the 
ground  took  the  young  Grand  Duke's  head 
in  her  lap,  but  in  a  few  minutes  he  was 
dead.  Thus  on  the  roadside,  attended 
by  an  old  peasant  woman,  died  the  heir 
to  the  Russian  throne.  He  fulfilled  the 
saying  regarding  the  Romanoffs,  that  none 
of  them  will  ever  die  in  their  beds.  So  far 
as  I  know  Nicholas  I.  was  the  only  one  who 
did  die  in  his  bed.  He  died  of  pneumonia, 
a  few  days  after  the  fall  of  Sevastopol. 
Though  Alexander  III.  died  a  natural  death, 
he  was  sitting  in  a  chair  in  the  balcony  when 
it  took  place. 

A  church  has  been  erected  over  the  spot 
where  George  Alexandrovitch  breathed  his 
last.  The  Dowager  Empress  with  all  her 


56        Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

family  went  to  the  Crimea  to  meet  his  body, 
which  they  conveyed  to  St.  Petersburg  and 
laid  in  the  Fortress  Church  of  St.  Peter  and 
St.  Paul.  His  tomb  is  attended  to  with 
loving  hands,  fresh  flowers  and  plants  always 
appear  on  it,  and  every  year  there  is  held 
a  memorial  service.  This  service  will  be 
held  so  long  as  any  of  the  children  of  his 
family  are  alive.  Such  is  the  custom  of 
the  Russian  Church.  It  has  been  said  that 
the  Grand  Duke  George  was  married  to  a 
telegraph  girl.  The  story  is  absolutely  un- 
true. He  lived  alone  in  his  house  in  the 
Caucasus  with  his  servants,  except  when 
visited  by  his  mother  and  family. 

A  few  days  after  his  funeral  the  battle- 
ship Alexander  III.  was  christened.  The 
Emperor,  Empress,  Dowager  Empress,  and 
other  members  of  the  family  went  to  the 
ceremony.  According  to  Russian  tradition 
they  wore  white  mourning,  for  no  one 
attends  any  ceremony  in  Russia  in  black. 
A  sudden  thunderstorm  came  on,  and  the 
lightning  struck  the  flagstaff.  It  fell  on  the 
heads  of  some  officers  standing  on  deck, 
killing  three  of  them,  and  wounding  seven 
or  eight.  The  ship  bore  the  name  of  the 


Concerning  Peterhoff.  57 

Dowager  Empress's  husband,  and  she  was 
terribly  upset  over  it.  She  said  it  would 
go  down  in  its  first  engagement.  There 
was  another  curious  prophecy,  that  from 
the  time  it  was  put  into  action  three  years, 
counting  one  year  for  each  person  killed, 
would  see  the  end  of  the  Romanoff  family. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

CONCERNING    FATHER   JOHN. 

IN  the  autumn  of  that  year  we  went  abroad. 
Starting  from  Peterhoff,  we  went  in  the 
small  yacht,  the  Alexandra,  to  Kronstadt, 
where  we  got  on  board  the  Standard.  Father 
John,  of  Kronstadt,  came  on  board  to  bless 
the  Emperor  and  Empress  and  the  children  ; 
he  also  blessed  me.  Father  John  has  a 
most  interesting  personality  ;  he  is  a  kind 
of  latter-day  saint.  He  has  written  a  book 
called  "  My  Life  in  Christ,"  which  is  rather 
like  "  The  Imitation  of  Christ."  He  has 
worked  many  cures,  especially  in  paralysis, 
epilepsy,  and  other  diseases  of  the  nerves. 
He  knows  his  own  limitations,  however, 
and  if  called  upon  to  cure  such  diseases  as 
scarlatina,  diphtheria,  etc.,  says,  "  The 
disease  must  run  its  course ;  I  can  only 
pray  for  the  patient."  He  was  once  called 


Concerning  Father  John.  59 

in  to  see  a  little  child  who  was  very  ill  with 
pneumonia.  He  brought  with  him  some 
holy  water,  of  which  a  little  was  spilt  on  the 
floor.  A  sister  of  the  little  sufferer  was 
called  and  obliged  to  go  on  her  knees,  and 
with  her  tongue  lick  up  the  spilt  drops.  In 
this  case  Father  John  said  he  could  only 
pray.  The  child  eventually  did  recover. 
Some  people,  especially  doctors,  say  that  he 
is  a  natural  hypnotist ;  others,  that  he  is 
a  faith  healer.  In  either  case,  he  certainly 
has  great  power  over  nerve  diseases,  and 
these  are  often  the  most  difficult  to  cure. 
I  once  suggested  to  the  Empress  that  he 
was  probably  simply  a  natural  hypnotist, 
who  had  practised  his  powers ;  however, 
she  was  not  pleased  with  the  suggestion. 
Both  she  and  the  Emperor  look  upon  these 
occult  sciences  with  grave  suspicion.  The 
Empress  says  if  there  is  anything  in  them 
at  all,  it  is  the  work  of  the  devil,  and  is  the 
witchcraft  spoken  of  in  the  Bible. 

A  doctor  told  me  the  following  story  : 
Princess  B.,  a  girl  of  fourteen  years,  the 
daughter  of  wealthy  parents,  was  staying  in 
the  Crimea  when  she  was  suddenly  struck 
with  paralysis.  He  was  called,  but  could 


60        Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

do  nothing.  Doctors  were  brought  from 
St.  Petersburg,  Berlin,  and  Paris,  and  many 
treatments  were  adopted  without  success, 
and  all  hope  of  a  cure  was  abandoned.  It 
suddenly  struck  my  friend  that  a  hypnotic 
suggestion  might  possibly  be  of  service,  so  he 
went  to  urge  this  new  idea  upon  them.  To 
his  surprise  he  found  they  had  gone  to 
Kronstadt,  taking  their  daughter  with  them. 
Two  days  after  he  was  invited  to  go  to  see 
his  former  patient,  and  was  delighted  to 
find  her  able  to  walk  about.  This  was  more 
than  fifteen  years  ago,  and  the  cure  has 
proved  permanent.  She  is  now  a  married 
woman  with  little  children.  The  doctor 
in  question  is  a  Lutheran,  and  he  says  that 
Father  John's  power  is  only  hypnotic.  I 
incline  to  the  belief  that  he  works  by  faith, 
as  did  the  Apostles  of  old.  Many  people 
are  afraid  of  Father  John,  and  there  are 
many  curious  stories  of  him.  It  is  said  that 
he  has  no  sympathy,  no  feeling,  for  anyone 
outside  of  the  Greek  Church.  He  is  not 
always  beneficent,  as  the  following  story  will 
show.  A  young  man  fell  into  bad  health, 
and  his  doctor  pronounced  his  illness  heart 
disease,  which  was  incurable.  He  came  a 


Concerning  Father  John.  61 

long  distance  to  see  Father  John,  who  told 
him  frankly  that  he  must  die.  He  said  he 
would  give  him  a  little  present  which  he 
was  to  open  on  a  certain  date.  "  On  the 
same  morning,"  he  continued,  "  you  will 
receive  by  post  from  me  a  small  present." 
Father  John  left  the  room  and  returned 
with  a  parcel,  which  he  handed  to  him  with 
strict  injunctions  to  lay  it  on  one  side  until 
the  stipulated  date.  Then  he  prayed  with 
the  poor  sufferer  and  sent  him  away.  On 
the  morning  of  the  appointed  day  the  young 
man  opened  the  parcel,  and  found  it  con- 
tained a  shroud.  He  was  much  shocked, 
and  was  still  holding  the  ghastly  present  in 
his  hand,  when  the  promised  posted  parcel 
was  handed  to  him.  He  opened  it  eagerly, 
and  found  inside  corpse  candles — as  the 
lights  which  burn  round  a  dead  body  in 
Russia  are  called.  The  unfortunate  young 
man  dropped  dead.  This  was  surely  a  cruel 
abuse  of  his  powers,  whatever  they  may  be. 
I  never  saw  Father  John  again. 

We  started  from  Kronstadt  in  the  beau- 
tiful yacht  Standard.  It  is  as  large  as  an 
ocean  liner,  and  carries  a  crew  of  five  hundred 
men.  We  were  followed  by  an  escort — 


62        Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

the  Polar  Star.  It  was  in  this  yacht  the 
Emperor  made  his  voyage  round  the  world 
when  he  was  Czarevitch. 

Orders  had  been  given  that  in  case  of 
fog,  which  is  very  common  in  the  Baltic, 
both  vessels  should  steam  at  half  speed. 
A  fog  came  on,  and  the  Standard  reduced 
speed,  but  the  Polar  Star  did  not.  She 
quickly  overtook  us  and  was  within  a  few 
inches  of  our  stern  before  she  was  perceived. 
There  was  a  great  commotion  on  board  both 
vessels,  and  each  was  quickly  turned  a  little 
out  of  her  course.  The  Polar  Star  passed 
us  so  closely  that  we  could  have  shaken 
hands  with  those  on  her  decks.  The  rest 
of  our  voyage  was  accomplished  without 
incident. 

On  landing  at  Copenhagen  we  were  met 
by  the  old  King  of  Denmark,  the  then 
Princess  of  Wales,  Princess  Victoria,  the 
King  of  Greece,  and  many  other  royalties, 
and  drove  to  Bernstorff  Castle,  a  short  dis- 
tance from  Copenhagen.  It  is  a  very  small 
residence  and  was  most  uncomfortably 
crowded.  There  is  a  tiny  park  and  a  rose 
garden  which  the  late  queen  had  planted. 

Princess    Victoria    took    great    delight    in 


Concerning  Father  John.  63 

her  small  cousins,  and  they,  on  their  part, 
manifested  much  affection  for  "  Auntie 
Toria,"  as  they  always  called  her.  Indeed, 
the  three  little  girlies  were  objects  of  adora- 
tion to  all  the  family.  The  Princess  of 
Wales  slept  in  the  room  adjoining  mine. 

Copenhagen  manufactures  really  beau- 
tiful china.  Each  piece  is  painted  by  artists, 
and  no  two  pieces  are  exactly  alike.  For 
the  most  part  it  is  white  and  blue,  and  one 
wonders  at  the  variety  of  designs  which  can 
be  executed  in  these  colours.  I  saw  no 
poverty  in  Copenhagen,  nor,  indeed,  any 
great  show  of  riches.  The  people,  so  far  as 
I  could  judge,  are  well  educated  and  many 
of  them,  even  amongst  the  servants,  spoke 
Danish,  and  either  English  or  German.  They 
do  not  seem  to  be  ashamed  or  afraid  of  work, 
and  they  are  very  good  agriculturists  and 
gardeners. 

We  spent  about  sixteen  days  in  Denmark, 
then  went  on  to  Kiel  to  visit  the  Empress's 
sister,  Princess  Henry  of  Kiel.  She  had  at 
this  time  two  children. 

Kiel  is  a  rather  dirty,  very  busy  little 
town,  with  a  thriving  port ;  there  are,  how- 
ever, nice  shops.  If  you  ask  a  Kiel  person 


64        Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

what  you  can  buy  as  a  souvenir,  he  will 
always  suggest  smoked  and  cured  fish.  The 
smoking  and  drying  form  quite  an  extensive 
trade,  and  some  hundreds  of  persons  are 
employed  in  a  factory.  The  fish  is  greatly 
prized  all  over  Germany. 

We  stayed  two  days  in  Kiel,  and  then 
went  by  train  to  Darmstadt,  or  rather 
Wolfsgarten.  On  the  way  I  noticed  fields 
of  the  saffron  crocuses,  and  I  am  told  that 
saffron-growing  forms  quite  an  extensive 
commerce  in  the  south  of  Germany.  We 
were  met  at  the  station  at  Wolfsgarten  by 
the  Grand  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Hesse  and 
their  little  daughter,  the  Princess  Ella,  and  the 
Duchess's  sister,  the  Crown  Princess  of 
Roumania,  a  very  beautiful  woman.  Little 
Princess  Ella  was  then  four  years  old, 
a  sweet  and  pretty  child,  with  wide  grey- 
blue  eyes  and  a  profusion  of  dark  hair. 
She  was  like  her  mother,  not  only  in  face, 
but  also  in  manner.  She  was  very  much 
interested  in  her  cousins,  and  had  herself 
put  some  of  her  toys  in  their  room  for  them, 
and  they  were  soon  great  friends.  She  very 
much  wished  she  had  a  sister  of  her  own, 
and  begged  hard  that  the  Grand  Duchess 


Concerning  Father  John.  65 

Tatiana  might  be  adopted  as  her  little  sister. 
She  said  we  would  not  miss  her  so  much  as 
we  would  Olga  or  the  baby.  That  prospect 
falling  through,  she  made  inquiries  about 
the  baby,  and  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
she  and  Miss  W.  could  easily  manage  her. 
With  anxious  eyes  she  followed  all  the 
details  of  the  baby's  toilette  till  she  thought 
she  had  mastered  them.  She  then  asked 
her  aunt  about  giving  it  to  her,  and,  of 
course,  was  refused.  She  then  tried  diplo- 
macy, and  kept  constantly  assuring  us  that 
it  was  a  very  ugly  baby,  and  we  would  be 
much  better  and  happier  without  that  stupid 
little  thing.  At  last  she  thought  she  had 
attained  her  object,  and  suggested  that  as 
the  baby  was  so  entirely  horrible  I  should 
throw  it  away  ! 

We  spent  about  six  or  seven  very  happy 
weeks  at  Wolfsgarten,  and  had  many  simple 
pleasures,  such  as  gipsy  teas.  We  went 
twice  to  Darmstadt,  took  tea  at  the  Palace, 
and  went  shopping  with  the  children. 
Darmstadt  is  a  well-built  town,  with  clean 
open  streets  and  nice  shops.  We  took  the 
children  to  a  toy  shop,  and  they  were  told 
that  they  might  choose  what  they  liked  for 

5 


66        Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

themselves,  and  also  for  relations  and  friends 
at  home.  Olga  looked  at  the  things,  and 
finally  chose  the  very  smallest  she  could 
find,  and  said,  politely,  "  Thank  you  very 
much."  Vainly  the  shop  people  showed  her 
more  attractive  toys ;  she  always  replied  : 
"  No,  thank  you  ;  I  don't  want  to  take  it." 
I  took  her  on  one  side  and  asked  her  why  she 
would  not  buy  the  toys.  I  said  that  the 
people  would  be  very  sad  if  she  would  not 
take  more,  and  that  she  could  not  leave 
the  shop  without  buying  more.  So  she 
said :  "  But  the  beautiful  toys  belong  to 
some  other  little  girls,  I  am  sure  ;  and  think 
how  sad  they  would  be  if  they  came  home 
and  found  we  had  taken  them  while  they 
were  out."  I  explained  to  her,  and  she  and 
Tatiana  laid  in  a  large  stock. 


CHAPTER     VIII. 

A   GLIMPSE   OF   POLAND. 

WE  were  very  sorry  to  leave  Darmstadt. 
On  our  way  to  Poland  we  paid  a  visit  to 
Potsdam,  to  the  German  Emperor  and 
Empress.  On  arriving  we  found  the  troops 
drawn  up  in  a  line,  and  the  Emperor  himself 
met  us  at  the  station.  The  band  played  the 
Russian  National  Anthem,  and  the  two 
Emperors  walked  along  and  inspected  the 
regiments.  The  Emperor  of  Russia  shook 
hands  with  the  officers  and  congratulated 
them.  He  and  the  Empress  then  went  off 
to  lunch  at  the  palace,  but  we  stayed  in  the 
train  till  after  lunch,  when  a  carriage  arrived 
and  took  us  up  to  the  palace. 

The  German  Emperor  is  very  like  his 
portraits  ;  the  Empress  is  a  fine,  handsome 
woman  ;  she  was  plainly  dressed  in  a  green 
cloth  costume.  Both  of  them  admired  my 
little  charges,  and  took  particular  notice  of 


68       Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

their  costumes,  which  were  new  from  London 
for  the  occasion.  They  wore  thick  cream- 
coloured  silk  coats  trimmed  with  beaver, 
and  had  hats  to  match,  and  they  did  look 
very  dainty  and  sweet.  Underneath  they 
had  cream-coloured  guipure  lace-frocks  over 
pink  silk,  and  pink  sashes.  We  were  taken 
upstairs  by  the  little  princess,  only  daughter 
of  the  German  Emperor,  a  very  sweet  and 
nicely-mannered  child.  The  nurseries  were 
all  sea  green  and  silver,  very  attractive 
rooms.  Here  we  had  tea  with  the  little 
prince  and  princess.  There  was  no  servant 
in  the  room,  and  the  little  prince  himself 
handed  round  bread  and  butter  to  everyone. 
Tea  over,  they  took  little  cousin  Olga  for  a 
drive  in  their  pony-cart,  and  the  English 
nurse  sent  for  a  carriage  and  took  the  other 
two  children  and  me  for  a  drive  through  the 
famous  Sans  Souci  grounds.  We  then  re- 
turned to  the  train  and  got  our  little  charges 
to  bed.  About  ten  o'clock  the  Emperor 
and  Empress  came  ;  the  train,  which  had 
been  put  into  a  siding  to  wait,  was  brought 
into  the  station  ;  the  band  played,  and  off 
we  started  for  Poland , 

In   Poland  we  stayed  in   a  small  palace 


A  Glimpse  of  Poland.  69 

called  Skernivitsi.  It  is  situated  in  what 
I  should  suppose  to  be  the  dirtiest  little 
Jewish  town  in  the  world.  Almost  all  the 
inhabitants  are  Jews,  handsome,  melancholy 
looking  men  ;  the  children  and  young  girls  are 
lovely,  while  the  older  women  are  fat,  coarse, 
untidy  looking  creatures.  It  seemed  to  me 
they  wore  wigs  made  of  horse-hair,  so  coarse 
and  unnatural  did  their  hair  appear.  The 
country  round  was  very  flat  and  ugly,  not  even 
a  hedgerow  to  be  seen,  only  here  and  there  a 
few  trees.  The  Poles  are  for  the  most  part 
Roman  Catholics  ;  at  every  cross  road  is  a 
little  shrine  or  altar,  fenced  in  with  iron  bars. 
Here  and  there  on  a  tree  hangs  a  holy  pic- 
ture, very  often  much  defaced  with  rain  and 
weather.  Going  along  the  roads  every  now 
and  again  one  came  to  a  tall  black  cross, 
with  a  tiny  figure,  perhaps  five  or  six  inches 
long,  of  the  Saviour  of  mankind  hanging  on 
it.  So  far  as  I  could  judge  on  my  three 
visits  to  the  country,  the  Poles  are  the  most 
dishonest,  the  most  untruthful,  and  the 
dirtiest  people  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 
Their  thefts  were  very  extraordinary  ;  they 
even  pilfered  the  Imperial  luggage  when  it 
was  standing  in  the  station. 


70        Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

Skernivitsi  has  a  rather  romantic  history. 
The  Emperor  Paul  had  three  sons — Alex- 
ander I.,  Constantine,  and  Nicholas  I.  Con- 
stantine  was  Viceroy  of  Poland  ;  he  fell  in 
love  with  a  Polish  countess,  who  was,  from 
all  accounts,  both  beautiful  and  amiable, 
and  who  lived  with  her  uncle,  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Poland,  at  Skernivitsi.  In  order 
to  marry  her  Constantine  renounced  his 
claim  to  the  throne,  though  he  was  heir- 
apparent,  as  his  brother,  Alexander  L, 
though  married,  had  no  children. 

On  the  death  of  her  uncle  it  was  found 
that  he  had  left  his  niece,  Skernivitsi,  with 
its  large  estates  and  vast  woods.  Constan- 
tine had  no  children,  and  on  his  death  he 
left  the  place  to  his  brother  Nicholas  I.  Con- 
stantine was  popular  with  the  Poles,  partly, 
perhaps,  on  account  of  his  Polish  wife.  Rus- 
sian people  will  tell  you  that  both  Alexander  I. 
and  Constantine  were  childless  as  a  direct 
punishment  from  God  for  the  murder  of 
their  father.  A  life  use  of  Skernivitsi  was 
granted  by  Alexander  II.  to  Prince  Baratenski 
in  recognition  of  some  service.  On  his  death, 
a  short  time  before  we  went  there,  the  place 
returned  to  the  Imperial  family.  The  house 


A  Glimpse  of  Poland.  71 

was  in  bad  repair,  and  the  park  a  damp, 
gloomy  place,  with  low-lying  ponds  in  it ; 
the  woods  teemed  with  game.     There  were 
lovely    little    black    deer,    with    branching 
antlers,    roebucks    and    fallow    deer ;     also 
quantities   of  pheasants   and  partridges,   to 
say  nothing  of  foxes.     Five  or  six  thousand 
head  of  game  was  a  common  enough  bag 
after  one  day's  shooting  !     Foxes  are  shot 
in  Russia  !     They  do  not  trouble  to  shoot 
rabbits,  nor  do  they  eat  them,  and  the  people 
look    disgusted   if   you   say   they   are   nice. 
When  the  game  was  brought  home  it  was 
arranged  on  the  lawn,  sometimes  with  the 
interlaced  monograms  of  the  Emperor  and 
Empress,  sometimes  with  the  double-headed 
eagle    of    Russia,    or    something    distinctly 
Polish  would  be  chosen.     Torches  were  then 
lit  and  the  foresters  played  their  band.     The 
house  party  then  came  out  to  view  the  game 
and   talk   over   the   incidents   of   the   day's 
sport.     It   was    a   very   quaint    and   pretty 
sight. 

We  stayed  there  a  few  days  and  then  re- 
turned to  Tsarskoe  Selo,  back  to  the  ice 
and  snow,  where  we  remained  until  the 
new  year. 


CHAPTER     IX. 

THE    ROUGH    LIFE    OF   THE   RUSSIAN 
PEASANTRY. 

I  HAD  now  been  about  ten  months  in  Russia, 
and  had  seen  and  learned  much  regarding 
the  peasants.  In  most  cases  their  marriages 
are  arranged  by  the  parents,  and  the  cere- 
mony usually  takes  place  before  the  man 
is  called  upon  for  his  military  services. 
Boys  and  girls,  aged  respectively  sixteen 
and  fourteen  years,  will  be  married ;  the 
girl  then  lives  with  her  mother-in-law  and 
helps  with  the  farm  work,  etc.  Housework 
seems  to  be  cut  down  to  the  lowest  level. 
The  mother  prepares  the  food  and  the  warm 
water  for  the  weekly  bath,  for  all  peasants 
take  a  bath  every  Saturday  night. 
A  Russian  cabin  consists  of  about  two 


Rough  Life  of  Russian  Peasantry.       73 

rooms  ;  one  has  a  stove,  a  table,  a  wooden 
bench,  and  a  couple  of  chairs,  a  lamp,  or 
not,  according  to  their  means.  Failing  a 
lamp,  home-made  candles  are  burned.  The 
inner  room  is  often  destitute  of  furniture. 

The  father  and  mother  sleep  on  the  top 
of  the  stove  with  as  many  of  the  children 
as  can  be  fitted  there.  The  others  take 
pillows  and  lie  on  the  floor  in  their 
clothing. 

The  father  and  mother  have  supreme 
power  over  sons  and  daughters,  daughters- 
in-law  and  grand-children,  and  they  are  all 
brought  up  together.  I  have  counted  as 
many  as  twenty-one  little  children  all  in 
one  cabin,  and  have  been  told  that  there 
are  often  more.  The  Russian  peasant  re- 
ceives from  his  proprietor  a  strip  of  land, 
more  or  less  according  to  the  number  of 
sons  in  the  family.  In  return  he  and  his 
family  give  so  many  days'  work  to  the  pro- 
prietor. Boys  are,  therefore,  very  much 
prized  ;  girls  are  less  thought  of,  though  the 
latter  do  the  hardest  part  of  the  work.  I 
have  seen  a  woman  yoked  to  a  plough  in 
company  with  the  family  cow,  and  driven  by 
a  man.  In  Russia  women  mow  the  rye  and 


74        Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

grass,   and   do   many   things   which   in   this 
country  are  considered  man's  work. 

The   overcrowding   of   the   cabins   is   one 
cause    of    the    frightful    mortality    amongst 
Russian  children.     In  all  classes  taken  to- 
gether  some   35   per   cent,   of    the   children 
die.     It  often  leads  to  many  strange  diseases 
of  which  the  doctors  know  little  or  nothing, 
as  their  studies  are  carried  on  in  St.  Peters- 
burg, or  Moscow,  where  different  conditions 
prevail.     But   I    must   here   say   that   as   a 
rule  Russian  doctors  are  very  kind,  and  do 
their   best   for   the   poor   people ;     but   the 
country    is     so     under-populated    that    one 
doctor   has   to   do   duty   for   three   or   four 
villages.     He    lives    in    the    largest    village, 
and  can  only  visit  the  others  at  intervals  of 
a    fortnight    or    so.     Should    an    epidemic 
break  out,  the  doctor  telegraphs  to  one  of 
the  universities  or  hospitals  for  someone  to 
aid    him.     This    help    is    not    always    forth- 
coming as  the  "  Lock-outs  "  in  the  univer- 
sities  are   frequent.     The   doctor   then   goes 
to  the  stricken  village,  organises  a  kind  of 
hospital  with  such  assistance  as  he  can  get, 
and  fights  the  enemy,  not  always  with  suc- 
cess.     In  a  village  lately  there  was  an  out- 


Rough  Life  of  Russian  Peasantry.       75 

break  of  some  infectious  disease,  such  as 
diphtheria.  The  doctor  died,  and  99  per 
cent,  of  the  children  were  swept  away. 

Children  are  the  great  want  in  Russia ; 
the  death-rate  comes  so  close  to  the  birth- 
rate, and  the  victims  are  usually  those  of 
the  poorer  classes.  From  this  point  of 
view  the  war  in  the  East,  with  the  losses  of 
hundreds  of  thousands,  is  a  terrible  calamity 
for  Russia. 

For  want  of  population,  or,  perhaps,  I 
should  say,  for  the  want  of  the  proper  divi- 
sion of  the  people,  many  of  Russia's  natural 
advantages  are  untouched.  There  are  great 
tracts  of  country  almost  untilled  ;  mines  in 
the  south  almost  unworked  ;  trackless  forests, 
where  rove  wild  animals,  but  which  contain 
vast  possibilities  of  wealth.  Russian  pea- 
sants will  not  live  in  solitary  farm-houses, 
and  sometimes  live  forty  miles  away  from 
their  work.  In  summer  they  simply  shut 
up  the  cabin  and  camp  on  the  farm,  driving 
the  beasts  before  them.  In  the  autumn, 
when  rye  and  oats  are  sown,  down  comes 
the  snow,  and  all  is  kept  warm  ;  the  peasant 
then  returns  to  his  hut  for  the  winter. 

The  women  do  most  exquisite  needlework. 


76        Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

Should  there  be  a  railway  line  anywhere  near 
the  village,  the  men  are  employed  for  a  few 
hours  each  day  keeping  the  line  clear  of 
snow.  Sometimes  the  younger  men  go  into 
the  nearest  town  and  work  in  the  factories, 
or  in  keeping  the  streets  clean,  but  they  live 
very  near  starvation  in  many  cases. 

There  are  no  shops  in  a  Russian  village  ; 
each  household  produces  enough  for  its 
own  wants,  with  the  exception  of  tea,  sugar, 
paraffin,  etc.  The  people  can  make  their 
own  shoes  out  of  strips  or  bark  plaited 
together,  and  put  on  a  wooden  sole.  Instead 
of  stockings  they  wear  bandages,  and  they 
are  most  skilful  in  arranging  these.  During 
war  time  even  the  officers  wear  these  ban- 
dages ;  they  say  they  march  better,  and 
should  a  hole  come  in  the  heel  they  have 
only  to  move  the  bandage  a  little  and  it  is 
all  right. 

Such  articles  as  cannot  be  produced  at 
home  are  provided  at  the  annual  fair  which 
is  held  in  every  village  in  spring  and  autumn. 
Men  come  round  to  each  village  twice  a  year 
to  buy  all  the  lace,  drawn  thread-work,  etc., 
which  the  women  have  done  in  the  intervals 
of  farm- work.  These  are  taken  to  St. 


Rough  Life  of  Russian  Peasantry.       77 

Petersburg  and  Moscow,  and  sold  at  a  large 
profit.  The  Empress  wished  to  establish 
some  time  ago  in  London  and  other  centres 
work  depots,  which  would  give  the  workers 
a  better  chance  of  realising  good  prices  for 
the  products  of  their  toil. 


78 


CHAPTER     X. 

SEARCHING  FOR  THE  MAGIC  BLOOM. 

No  life  is  without  its  compensations,  and 
life  in  a  Russian  village  has  its  bright  side 
also.  During  the  long  winter  evenings  a 
professional  story-teller  comes  round.  He 
is  kept  and  fed  at  the  expense  of  the  vil- 
lagers, and  in  return  he  tells  them  wonderful 
tales  about  gnomes,  pixies,  and  fairies  in 
general.  Or  he  will  relate  some  historical 
tale,  or  even  make  and  recite  poetry  to 
them.  Russian  poetry  is  in  blank  verse, 
and  deals  very  often  with  heroic  deeds. 

The  Russian  fairy,  like  its  Irish  prototype, 
is,  as  a  general  rule,  a  malignant  being, 
always  ready  to  do  some  mean  or  nasty 
trick ;  but  the  traditions  regarding  them 
differ  in  many  respects.  The  Irish  peasant 
will  tell  you  that  after  the  great  war  in 
heaven,  when  Satan  was  thrown  out,  there 


Searching  for  the  Magic  Bloom.        79 

fell  also  with  him  many  evil  spirits.  The 
worst  of  these  evil  spirits  fell  at  once  into 
hell,  there  to  remain  for  evermore,  but  those 
who  were  less  guilty  got  another  chance  and 
fell  on  the  earth,  where  they  may,  by  their 
good  or  evil  deeds,  ultimately  work  out  their 
salvation  or  damnation. 

Sometimes  unaccountable  bruises  appear 
on  one's  body,  these  they  regard  with  great 
horror ;  they  are  supposed  to  be  the  work  of 
evil  spirits  who  wish  to  get  you  out  of  the 
house.  In  Ireland  these  bruises  are  called 
"  dead  men's  pinches."  So  in  both  countries 
a  mystical  origin  is  given  to  them.  One 
class  of  Russian  fairies  inhabits  the  pools 
and  streams  of  fresh  water,  and  are  specially 
to  be  found  in  wooded  spots.  The  Russian 
peasant,  wandering  near,  hears  the  sound 
of  sweet  singing  ;  should  he  try  to  distin- 
guish the  sounds  his  name  will  be  called 
aloud.  If  he  is  so  unguarded  as  to  answer, 
the  wicked  fairies  throw  themselves  upon 
him  and  cry,  "  Thou  art  my  beloved."  He 
is  drawn  down  into  the  water  and  returns 
no  more.  In  both  countries,  should  you  be 
so  unfortunate  as  to  sneeze  three  times, 
unless  someone  calls  out  "  God  bless  you," 


80        Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

you  are  indeed  in  a  perilous  situation,  for  the 
fairies  will  surely  have  you  then. 

Twice  a  year  the  ferns  blossom  ;  they 
bear  a  large  golden  flower,  gifted  with  the 
power  of  making  the  fortunate  finder  wealthy 
for  life.  One  of  these  nights  is  midsummer 
night ;  the  other,  the  Eve  of  the  Feast  of 
the  Assumption.  All  through  those  two 
nights  the  peasants  walk  in  the  woods 
searching  for  the  magic  bloom.  No  one  has 
succeeded  in  yet  finding  it,  for  the  fairies  are 
always  on  the  look-out,  and  either  throw  dust 
into  the  eyes  of  the  seekers,  or  divert  their 
attention  to  something  else,  and  break  down 
the  flower. 

As  might  be  supposed,  fire  plays  an 
important  part  in  their  superstitions.  In  a 
peasant's  house  the  fire  is  never  allowed  to 
go  out.  Should  it  by  chance  do  so,  there 
is  great  dismay,  as  the  little  old  man  who 
lives  behind  the  chimney  might  be  offended, 
or  might  even  feel  the  cold  and  die.  If  the 
family  move  to  another  home,  some  of  the 
fire  is  taken  in  a  small  saucepan  or  jar  packed 
into  a  basket,  and  is  sent  on  by  a  special 
messenger  before  the  rest  of  the  family 
follow.  When  it  is  placed  on  the  hearth- 


Searching  for  the  Magic  Bloom.        81 

stone  the  fire  genius  is  addressed  somewhat 
as  follows  :  "  There,  grandfather,  rest  easy, 
and  be  assured  that  your  place  will  always 
be  the  warmest  in  the  cabin."  Should  the 
fire  go  out,  it  shows  that  the  spirit  is  dis- 
pleased, and  all  sorts  of  dire  calamities  may 
be  expected.  When  the  house  is  locked  up 
for  the  summer  the  fire  is  carried  in  the 
cart  in  a  saucepan  and  attended  to  most 
assiduously. 

Dreams  are  very  much  regarded,  and  in- 
terpreters of  them  are  held  in  great  respect. 
Many  people  will  not  take  any  important  step 
in  life  without  consulting  the  cards  ;  fortune- 
tellers must  reap  a  large  fortune.  I  very 
often  had  my  fortune  told,  and  strange  to 
relate  a  part  of  what  was  said  always  came 
true.  At  Christmas  many  are  the  chances 
taken  to  see  what  your  future  will  be.  Some 
of  these  I  had  already  seen  practised  in 
Ireland.  On  a  table  seven  saucers  are 
arranged  in  a  row.  Under  one  is  placed  a 
ring  ;  one  is  left  without  anything,  a  piece 
of  white  cloth  in  another,  earth  in  another, 
a  red  cloth  in  another,  a  button,  and  a  nut, 
and  so  over  all  the  saucers  is  placed  a  cloth. 
These  things  signify  marriage,  no  change,  a 

6 


82        Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

parson,  death,  a  soldier,  an  engagement,  and  a 
long  journey.  You  are  sent  out  of  the  room 
while  the  saucers  are  being  arranged;  then  you 
are  blind-folded  and  led  up  to  the  table,  told 
to  lift  the  cloth  and  put  your  hand  into  one. 
According  to  what  you  find  will  your  future 
be.  If  you  go  into  a  room  just  at  midnight 
and  sitting  between  two  mirrors  gaze  steadily 
into  one,  you  are  supposed  to  see  gradually 
forming  on  the  face  of  the  glass  a  picture, 
significant  of  your  fate  for  the  coming  year. 
On  midsummer  night  all  unmarried  girls 
go  into  the  fields  and  gather  seven  different 
wild  flowers.  To  sleep  with  these  under 
the  pillow  is  to  insure  a  vision  of  her  future 
husband. 

There  are  many  gipsies  in  Russia,  and  at 
Peterhoff  I  often  witnessed  their  most  extra- 
ordinary marriage  ceremony.  Sunday  is 
usually  the  day  chosen  for  it.  They  choose 
a  spot  where  they  can  drive  round  in  a 
circuit.  The  bride  and  bridegroom — the 
bride  gorgeously  dressed  in  a  new  print  or 
muslin  dress,  a  pair  of  white  cotton  gloves, 
and  a  piece  of  lace  shaped  like  a  three- 
cornered  handkerchief  with  the  corner  hang- 
ing down  behind,  tied  over  her  head  and 


Searching  for  the  Magic  Bloom.        83 

crowned  with  a  wreath  of  artificial  flowers — 
take  their  places  in  a  little  pony-cart.  After 
them  come  the  groomsmen  and  bridesmaids, 
who  are  dressed  like  the  bride,  but  without 
the  crowning  glory  of  the  wreath,  two  in  each 
cart ;  then  the  elders  of  the  camp,  the  grave 
married  people  generally  accompanied  by 
a  few  children,  and,  last  of  all,  the  bachelors 
or  widowers.  This  strange  procession  drives 
round  the  chosen  route  three  times  and  the 
marriage  is  accomplished.  It  holds  good 
and  is  quite  legal.  I  suppose  the  presence 
of  so  many  witnesses  makes  it  so. 

There  are  many  ceremonies  of  blessings 
observed  by  the  Russians.  I  have  already 
spoken  of  blessing  the  food  on  Easter  Satur- 
day. On  the  first  of  July  (old  style)  the 
apples  and  orchards  generally  are  blessed, 
and  the  very  worst  boy  in  the  village  would 
not  steal  an  apple  before  it  had  been  blessed. 
After  the  blessing  the  fruit  is  offered  for 
sale  in  the  streets  and  market-places. 

After  the  ice  has  melted  the  fishing-boats 
are  all  blessed  before  they  go  to  sea. 


84 


CHAPTER     XI. 

A     RUSSIAN    CHRISTMAS. 

WE  generally  spent  Christmas  at  Tsarskoe 
Selo.  It  is  less  observed  than  Easter  in 
general,  but  in  the  palace  it  is  a  great  festival. 
There  were  no  fewer  than  eight  Christmas 
trees  in  various  parts  of  the  palace.  The 
Empress  dressed  them  all  herself,  and  per- 
sonally chose  the  presents  for  each  member 
of  her  household,  and  for  each  officer,  to  the 
number  of  about  five  hundred.  A  tree  was 
arrayed  for  the  Cossacks  in  the  riding-school. 
The  children  and  I  had  a  tree  for  ourselves. 
It  was  fixed  into  a  musical-box  which  played 
the  German  Christmas  hymn,  and  turned 
round  and  round.  It  was  indeed  a  glitter- 
ing object.  All  the  presents  were  laid  out 
on  white  covered  tables,  and  the  tree  stood 
for  several  days  an  object  of  intense  interest 
and  admiration  to  the  children.  They  were 


A  Russian  Christmas.  85 

very  sad  when  it  was  dismantled  just  before 
we  went  to  St.  Petersburg,  but  they  were 
consoled  by  being  allowed  to  help,  and  to 
divide  the  toys  between  the  members  of 
their  own  household. 

We  went  to  St.  Petersburg  on  the  last  day 
of  the  old  year  (Russian  counting).  On  New 
Year's  Day  there  was  a  great  ceremony  in 
the  palace  cathedral.  The  Emperor  and 
Empress  and  the  Dowager  Empress  went  to 
church  in  state,  accompanied  by  their  own 
courts  and  all  the  grand  ducal  courts,  all 
wearing  full  court  dress.  We  saw  the  Em- 
press when  she  was  dressed ;  very  magnifi- 
cent she  looked  in  her  court  dress  of  white 
satin  with  its  long  train  of  brocade,  seven 
chains  of  diamonds  round  her  neck,  a  girdle 
of  the  same  sparkling  gems  round  her  waist, 
the  ends  falling  to  the  hem  of  her  dress.  On 
her  head  she  wore  the  kokoshnik,  the  cres- 
cent-shaped head-dress,  in  white  brocade, 
lavishly  decorated  with  large  single  stone 
diamonds.  A  rich  lace  veil  depended  from 
it  and  hung  at  the  back  almost  to  her  knees. 

The  little  girlies  were  delighted  to  see 
her  so  gorgeously  attired  ;  they  circled  round 
her  in  speechless  admiration  for  some  time, 


86       Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

and  suddenly  the  Grand  Duchess  Olga 
clapped  her  hands,  and  exclaimed  fervently, 
"  Oh !  Mama,  you  are  just  like  a  lovely 
Christmas  tree  !  >j  After  divine  service  was 
finished  there  was  a  drawing-room,  at 
which  all  the  debutantes  were  presented. 

The  Grand  Duchesses  Olga  and  Tatiana 
Nicholaivna  were  fond  of  listening  to  stories. 
On  one  occasion  Tatiana  told  Olga  a  story, 
the  end  of  which  was  as  follows  :  "So  my 
little  girl  and  my  niece  went  into  the  wood 
and  a  big  wolf  ate  my  little  girl,  so  she  went 
to  heaven."  Olga  was  horrified  at  such 
theology.  "  Oh  no  !  "  she  cried  ;  "  she 
could  not  have  gone  to  heaven,  because  the 
wolf  ate  her,  and  God  does  not  allow  wolves 
to  go  to  heaven.  She  is  walking  about  the 
wood  inside  the  wolf."  The  other  child 
calmly  accepted  this  wonderful  correction. 
I  found  I  had  to  be  very  careful  in  telling 
them  stories.  On  one  occasion  I  told  Olga 
the  story  of  Joseph  and  his  brethren.  She 
was  deeply  interested,  and  exclaimed, 
"  What  a  shame  !  "  I  said,  "  Yes  ;  it  was 
indeed  a  terrible  shame  for  them  to  be  so 
jealous  and  so  cruel  to  their  young  brother." 
She  exclaimed,  "  I  mean  it  was  a  shame  of 


A  Russian  Christmas.  87 

the  father.  Joseph  was  not  the  eldest,  and 
the  beautiful  coat  should  have,  been  given 
to  the  eldest  son  ;  the  other  brothers  knew 
that,  and  perhaps  that  was  why  they  put 
him  in  the  pit."  Explanations  were  use- 
less ;  all  her  sympathies  were  given  to 
Reuben.  She  was  angry  with  King  David 
because  he  killed  Goliath,  and  said,  "  David 
was  much  younger  and  smaller,  and  poor 
Goliath  never  expected  him  to  throw  stones 
at  him."  "  Jack  the  Giant  Killer  "  gave  her 
no  pleasure  ;  it  upset  her  idea  that  might 
was  right.  Once  there  was  a  cinematograph 
exhibition  for  the  children  and  some  friends. 
One  picture  showed  two  little  girls  playing 
in  a  garden,  each  with  a  table  before  her 
covered  with  toys.  Suddenly  the  bigger  girl 
snatched  a  toy  from  the  little  one  who,  how- 
ever, held  on  to  it  and  refused  to  give  it  up. 
Foiled  in  her  attempts,  the  elder  seized  a 
spoon  and  pounded  the  little  one  with  it, 
who  quickly  relinquished  the  toy  and  began 
to  cry.  Tatiana  wept  to  see  the  poor  little 
one  so  ill-treated,  but  Olga  was  very  quiet. 
After  the  exhibition  was  over  she  said,  "  I 
can't  think  that  we  saw  the  whole  of  that 
picture."  I  said  I  hoped  the  end  of  it  was 


88       Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

that  the  naughty  big  sister  was  well  punished, 
adding  that  I  thought  we  had  seen  quite 
enough  as  I  had  no  wish  to  see  anything 
more  of  such  a  naughty  girl.  Olga  then 
said,  "  I  am  sure  that  the  lamb  belonged 
at  first  to  the  big  sister,  and  she  was  kind 
and  lent  it  to  her  sister ;  then  she  wanted  it 
back,  and  the  little  sister  would  not  give 
it  up,  so  she  had  to  beat  her." 


Another  view  of  the  Kremlin,  Moscow. 


«/>axe  88. 


89 


CHAPTER     XII. 

LIFE     IN     THE     KREMLIN. 

QUITE  early  in  January  the  opening  ball  of 
the  St.  Petersburg  season  was  given  at  the 
Winter  Palace.  Over  five  thousand  people 
were  present,  and  it  was  indeed  a  gay  scene. 
The  Empress  wore  white  chiffon  embroidered 
with  chenille  and  sparkling  sequins,  and 
many  diamonds.  The  Grand  Duchess  Serge 
wore  mauve.  She  is  sister  to  the  Empress, 
and  the  Grand  Duke  was  the  Emperor's 
uncle ;  they  have  no  children.  The  Grand 
Duchess  Serge  is  a  very  beautiful  woman  ; 
some  people,  indeed,  even  consider  her  hand- 
somer than  the  Empress.  The  Imperial 
family  was  still  in  mourning  for  the  Grand 
Duke  George,  so  all  wore  either  white  or 
mauve. 

The  ball  was  opened  by  a  polonaise.     The 


go        Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

master  of  the  ceremonies  went  before  the 
Emperor  and  Empress,  walking  backwards, 
and  cleared  a  way  for  them  through  the 
crowd.  After  him  came  Princess  Galitzin, 
the  senior  lady  of  the  Court,  then  came  the 
Emperor  and  Empress,  grand  dukes  and 
duchesses,  Royal  princes  and  princesses, 
the  ambassadors  and  their  wives,  all  moving 
slowly,  in  pairs.  At  the  conclusion  of  the 
polonaise  general  dancing  began.  The  Em- 
peror and  Empress  went  amongst  their 
guests  and  spoke  a  few  words  to  most  of 
them.  The  Japanese  Ambassador  and  his 
wife  were  there  ;  he  wore  European  uniform, 
and  she  was  clad  in  a  pink  satin  dress,  made 
high  and  with  long  sleeves. 

The  supper-rooms  were  beautifully  ar- 
ranged like  gardens.  There  were  groups  of 
palms,  flowering  lilacs,  and  laburnums,  etc., 
appearing  out  of  grassy  beds  in  which  grew 
crocuses,  daffodils,  and  other  flowering  bulbs. 
Walks  covered  with  carpets  to  imitate  sand 
ran  through  the  rooms  in  various  directions  ; 
electric  lamps  hung  in  the  trees  and  tables 
were  set  out  under  their  shade.  For  the 
supper  were  provided  three  hundred  and 
fifty  dishes  of  chicken,  each  dish  containing 


Life  in  the  Kremlin.  91 

three  chickens  with  salad  and  jelly  ;  three 
hundred  and  fifty  large  lobsters,  with  mayon- 
naise sauce,  and  three  hundred  and  fifty 
tongues  and  the  same  number  of  dishes  of 
cold  assorted  meats,  also  of  ices,  creams, 
jellies,  etc.,  besides  cakes,  biscuits,  etc. 
Also  several  hundred  gallons  of  soup  of 
various  kinds.  Two  thousand  bundles  of 
asparagus  were  boiled  for  the  salads  ;  there 
were  also  quantities  of  fruit  and  wine.  A 
ball  at  the  palace  is  good  for  trade  in  St. 
Petersburg.  I  was  invited  to  the  kitchens 
to  see  the  preparations,  and  was  greatly 
amused  and  interested  to  see  the  people. 
Counts,  barons,  hotel  proprietors,  etc.,  all 
came  in  to  see  the  chef  and  bargain  with  him 
for  the  remains  of  these  delicacies.  The 
chef  is  paid  so  much  a  head  for  the  supper  ; 
he  buys  things  in  large  quantities,  and  sends 
abroad  for  some.  He  orders  what  he  likes, 
provides  the  supper,  receives  the  money  from 
the  Emperor,  and  pockets  what  he  can  make 
out  of  the  transaction. 

Every  season  five  or  six  balls  are  given, 
beside  many  great  dinners,  and  twice  a 
week  there  is  a  representation  in  the  palace 
theatre,  either  an  opera  or  a  play,  followed 


92        Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

by  a  supper.  It  may  not  be  generally 
known  that  the  Emperor  has  an  opera  com- 
pany and  an  acting  company,  which  includes 
a  ballet. 

On  the  6th  of  January  the  ceremony  of 
blessing  the  waters  is  performed.  A  mass 
at  which  all  appear  in  full  court  costume 
is  celebrated  in  the  Winter  Palace  Cathedral. 
That  finished,  the  priests,  in  their  most  gor- 
geous vestments,  followed  by  the  Emperor 
and  grand  dukes  and  the  gentlemen  of  the 
various  courts,  go  to  a  pavilion  erected  over 
the  river,  and  there  the  priests  solemnly  bless 
the  waters,  a  hole  being  cut  in  the  ice  for  the 
purpose  into  which  a  cross  is  lowered.  They 
then  go  through  the  crowd  which  always 
assembles  and  sprinkle  them  from  a  brush 
dipped  into  the  holy  water.  Some  of  the 
water  is  then  brought  into  the  palace  and 
put  into  glasses  reserved  specially  for  it, 
and  it  is  then  drunk  after  many  prayers 
and  much  blessing  of  themselves  by  the 
Russians. 

Formerly,  when  the  hole  was  cut  in  the 
ice,  numbers  of  people  plunged  into  the 
water,  and  afterwards  went  from  door  to 
door  showing  their  frozen  garments  as  a 


Life  in  the  Kremlin.  93 

proof  of  their  holiness,  and  asking  alms 
from  the  charitably  disposed.  But  from 
time  to  time  one  of  those  self-made  martyrs 
was  drowned  and  there  were  many  abuses, 
so  the  authorities  put  an  end  to  the  plunging. 
The  ladies  of  the  Court  used  formerly  to  go 
in  the  procession,  but  bare  shoulders  were 
not  exactly  conducive  to  health  with  the 
thermometer  standing  often  at  twenty  degrees 
below  freezing  point,  and  therefore  the  prac- 
tice was  discontinued. 

We  stayed  at  St.  Petersburg  until  towards 
the  end  of  Lent. 

On  one  occasion  the  Prince  of  Siam  came 
to  visit  the  Empress,  and  the  children  were 
in  the  room.  Now  I  was  interested  to  see 
his  dusky  highness  as  I  had  met  him  before 
at  a  little  seaside  resort  in  the  west  of 
Ireland.  He  had  been  invited  to  spend  the 
summer  holidays  with  a  school-fellow,  and 
Kilkee  was  chosen  by  his  family  for  their 
holiday-resort.  Some  of  the  visitors  there 
got  up  a  little  entertainment  for  the  benefit 
of  the  poor,  and  he  and  his  friends  were 
invited  to  help.  The  entertainment  took 
the  form  of  tableaux,  with  a  little  music. 
The  young  prince  was  deeply  interested  in 


94        Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

all,  and  finally  begged  for  a  part  for  himself. 
One  excuse  after  another  was  offered  to  him, 
but  at  last  to  our  consternation  he  ex- 
claimed, "  I  know  why  you  will  not  have 
me.  It  is  because  I  am  an  Eastern.  Well, 
I'll  make  a  tableau  all  for  myself."  He 
went  home  and  presently  re-appeared  with 
an  armful  of  curtains,  table-cloths,  etc. 
Throwing  these  down  in  a  corner  of  the  hall, 
he  went  out  again,  and  presently  returned 
with  all  the  false  jewellery  the  village  shops 
could  supply,  and  announced  that  he  in- 
tended to  personate  the  Queen  of  Sheba 
when  she  had  seen  Solomon's  magnificence. 
He  quickly  dressed  the  platform  to  repre- 
sent an  Eastern  interior,  and,  draping  himself 
in  a  shawl,  squatted,  native  fashion,  in  the 
middle  of  the  stage.  It  was  wonderfully 
effective.  On  the  evening  of  the  exhibition 
the  tableau  was  by  far  the  finest,  being  so 
much  out  of  the  common.  The  boy  was 
delighted  with  himself  and  his  audience. 
When  I  saw  him  in  the  Winter  Palace  he 
was  dressed  in  Russian  uniform,  and  looked 
about  him  with  the  same  bright,  interested 
expression  he  had  worn  in  Ireland.  Natur- 
ally he  did  not  recognise  me.  My  little 


Life  in  the  Kremlin.  95 

charges  ran  forward  and  examined  him  with 
deep  interest,  walking  slowly  round  him, 
and  regarding  him  with  beaming  smiles  of 
amusement.  The  Empress  said  to  the  Grand 
Duchess  Tatiana,  "  Come,  shake  hands 
with  this  gentleman,  Tatiana."  She  laughed, 
and  said,  "  That  is  not  a  gentleman, 
mama ;  that's  only  a  monkey."  The  Em- 
press, covered  with  confusion,  said,  "  You 
are  a  monkey  yourself,  Tatiana,"  but  the 
prince  laughed  heartily.  They  and  the  prince 
afterwards  became  quite  good  friends. 

We  went  that  year  to  Moscow  for  Easter, 
and  stayed  in  the  historic  Kremlin.  Moscow 
is  the  most  characteristic  city  I  have  seen  ; 
for  the  most  part  it  is  distinctly  modern,  but 
conveys  the  impression  of  antiquity  even 
more  successfully  than  St.  Petersburg  does. 
The  Kremlin  and  all  that  part  are  very 
old  ;  there  is  a  great  room  having  a  throne 
draped  with  ermine.  All  round  the  walls 
are  painted  frescoes.  One  set  represents 
the  history  of  Joseph  and  his  brethren. 
They  are  dressed  as  Russian  peasants  in 
shirts  and  top-boots ;  Potiphar's  wife  is 
attired  in  a  bright  blue  dress,  showing  a 
white  petticoat.  She  evidently  wore  a  crino- 


96        Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

line,  also  a  pair  of  boots  with  high  heels  and 
white  stockings.  Another  set  represents  the 
wandering  of  the  children  of  Israel  in  the  wil- 
derness ;  Russian  costume  again  prevails 
amongst  them.  Another  wall  is  taken  up 
with  the  judgment  of  Vladimir.  He  was 
the  first  Christian  Emperor  of  Russia.  Tra- 
dition says  that  a  Jew  had  oppressed  a 
Christian  woman,  who  called  to  Vladimir  for 
help.  The  verdict  went  against  the  Jew, 
who  straightway  gave  all  his  property  to 
wife  and  children,  and  then  said  he  had 
nothing  to  pay  with.  Vladimir  ordered  his 
head  to  be  shaved,  and  that  he  should  be 
mounted  on  a  donkey  and  led  through  the 
town  with  his  hands  tied.  He  was  accord- 
ingly brought  out,  but  had  not  proceeded 
very  far  when  he  offered  to  refund  all  that 
he  had  unjustly  extorted,  and  even  more. 
The  flies  and  stinging  insects  which  abound 
in  Russia  had  punished  him  by  alighting  on 
his  shaven  head. 

On  the  floor  of  this  room  is  a  carpet  made 
in  a  convent.  It  represents  years  of  work, 
and  it  is  made  of  pieces  of  cloth  stitched 
together  and  bordered  with  fancy  stitching 
in  gold-coloured  thread.  On  each  piece  is 


Life  in  the  Kremlin.  97 

worked  a  regimental  badge  in  the  national 
colours.  I  thought  it  ugly  and  confusing 
to  the  eyes,  but  I  have  heard  it  very  much 
admired.  At  the  top  of  this  room,  right  up 
under  the  ceiling  and  artfully  arranged  so  as 
to  be  invisible  from  below,  is  a  window  from 
which  the  secluded  women  could  look  down 
upon  the  festivities  below.  Here  the  poor 
young  grand  duchesses  used  to  get  a  peep 
at  their  future  husbands.  The  rooms  where 
they  lived  are  still  shown  ;  they  were  bare 
and  miserable,  with  the  windows  very  high 
up.  Poor  things !  their  lives  must  have 
been  lamentable  ;  they  occupied  themselves 
with  needlework  and  much  of  their  tapestry 
and  cross-stitch  work  still  exists.  In  a 
church  in  the  Kremlin  there  is  a  carpet 
worked  by  the  ladies  of  one  of  the  courts. 
In  the  palace  at  Gatchina  are  tapestries  re- 
presenting the  history  of  the  world,  begin- 
ning with  the  Garden  of  Eden  and  ending 
with  Solomon's  Court,  also  the  work  of  the 
ladies  of  the  Court. 

Queen  Elizabeth  gave  Ivan  the  Terrible 
some  magnificent  silver  tankards  and  cups 
of  beautiful  workmanship,  far  more  beau- 
tiful than  any  modern  work,  I  think.  This 

7 


98        Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

silver  is  all  displayed  in  the  great  room  I 
have  described. 

The  museum  is  well  worth  a  visit.  Here 
are  hung  up  in  a  circle  all  the  crowns  belong- 
ing to  the  various  Emperors  and  Empresses 
now  dead.  Catherine  the  Great  had  all  the 
jewels  of  her  crown  picked  out  and  made 
into  an  ornament  for  her  personal  adorn- 
ment, and  there  hangs  her  crown  with  its 
jewelless  holes,  a  lasting  monument  to  her 
character.  Catherine  I.,  who  was  a  slave 
girl  unable  to  read,  was  far  more  noble  in 
character. 

There  are  numbers  of  thrones,  from  a  little 
ivory  chair  which  formerly  belonged  to 
some  of  the  Georgian  kings,  to  the  silver  one 
which  was  brought  from  Kieff.  I  sat  in 
most  of  them  to  the  great  horror  of  some  of 
the  Russians.  Some  of  the  thrones  have 
cords  stretched  across  the  corners  to  prevent 
such  sacrilege. 

Here  are  hung  up  in  a  glass  case  the  robes 
worn  by  the  Emperor,  Empress  and  Dowager 
Empress  on  the  occasion  of  their  coronations. 
All,  even  to  the  gloves  and  shoes,  are  dis- 
played. I  should  like  to  have  retained 
something,  if  only  a  glove,  in  memory  of  such 


The  C/.ar  and  C/arina  in  old-world  Muscovite  garment.-. 

[Fating page  98. 


Life  in  the  Kremlin.  99 

a  momentous  ceremony.  In  presses  round 
the  walls  of  another  room  are  kept  the  coro- 
nation robes  of  former  sovereigns. 

Li  Hung  Chang  brought  a  carved  eagle  to 
the  Emperor  and  a  screen  to  the  Empress. 
The  eagle  is  about  five  feet  high,  and  stands 
on  the  carved  trunk  of  a  tree.  Each  feather 
is  carved  separately  and  can  be  withdrawn 
from  the  body  of  the  bird,  and  the  whole 
thing  packed  in  a  small  space.  It  is  of 
ivory  and  ebony,  a  most  wonderful  piece  of 
work.  I  thought  at  first  that  the  screen 
was  painted,  but  it  is  not.  It  is  executed 
with  the  needle,  is  in  four  panels,  each 
representing  the  sea  under  a  different  aspect, 
while  on  the  reverse  side  gulls  are  embroidered 
flying,  feeding,  and  swimming — a  truly  mar- 
vellous piece  of  work,  every  part  of  the  canvas 
being  covered  with  stitches.  It  took  eight 
of  the  most  expert  needlewomen  in  China 
three  years  to  execute. 

There  is  a  collection  in  the  museum 
of  old  state  carriages — wonderful  erections, 
all  gilding  and  velvet,  with  delicately  painted 
panels.  Catherine's  travelling  carriage  is 
there.  There  is  a  long  table  down  the 
middle  of  it,  and  how  it  could  be  turned  I 

7* 


ioo      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

know  not ;  it  is  rather  larger  than  an  ordi- 
nary tramcar  or  'bus.  Indeed,  I  do  not 
believe  that  there  is  a  street  in  Moscow  in 
which  one  of  those  carriages  could  be  turned. 
The  little  Grand  Duchess  Olga  sat  in  each 
carriage  in  turn ;  finally  she  selected  the 
largest  and  handsomest,  and  said,  "I'll 
have  this  one."  She  then  gave  orders  quite 
seriously  that  the  carriage  should  be  sent  to 
Tsarskoe  Selo  for  her.  She  was  told  that 
could  not  be,  so  she  ordered  that  it  should 
be  prepared  for  her  daily  drive.  I  was  very 
pleased  that  her  ideas  on  the  subject  of  the 
carriage  were  not  carried  out. 

Moscow  has  many  picture  galleries  and 
places  of  interest,  and  the  town  itself  is  so 
interesting  that  it  is  well  worth  a  visit. 
Moscow  is  particularly  nice  at  Easter. 
Something  in  the  atmosphere  of  the  place 
makes  it  seem  suitable  for  that  festival. 
They  say  that  Holy  Moscow  contains  seventy 
times  seven  churches  ;  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
there  are  many  more,  one  out  of  every  five 
buildings  being  a  church.  What  supports 
them,  and  how  the  priests  live,  I  have  never 
been  able  to  find  out.  Many  of  these 
churches  are  very  beautiful  and  interesting. 


Life  in  the  Kremlin.  101 

As  in  St.  Petersburg,  there  is  a  large 
English  colony  and  an  English  church. 
The  streets  are  for  the  most  part  paved  with 
cobble  stones,  so  they  are  very  noisy  to 
drive  over.  Some  of  the  churches  are  very 
old,  as  they  escaped  the  fire.  Many  of  the 
holy  icons  have  had  almost  miraculous 
escapes  from  being  destroyed.  One  of  the 
churches  in  the  Kremlin  contains  a  picture 
with  the  mark  of  a  sword-cut  like  a  great 
scar  across  it,  but  the  canvas  was  not  cut. 
It  has  also  the  marks  of  something  on  the 
back,  and  it  is  said  that  it  was  thrown  out 
of  church  by  the  French  soldiers,  was  put 
into  the  fire,  but  was  miraculously  pre- 
served. 

Ivan  the  Terrible,  who  was  contemporary 
with  Queen  Elizabeth,  had  a  church  built 
which  is  very  much  admired.  Seven  little 
churches  open  one  after  the  other,  each  round 
in  form,  six  of  them  round  a  centre  one. 
They  are  very  pretty  and  full  of  interest,  but 
exceedingly  dark.  Tradition  says  Ivan  was 
much  pleased  with  this  church,  and  sent 
for  the  architect  to  reward  him.  When  the 
man  came,  the  Emperor  had  him  seized 
and  bound  and  his  eyes  were  burned  out  in 


IO2      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

order  that  he  might  never  be  able  to  repro- 
duce the  church,  nor  to  design  one  exceeding 
it  in  beauty.  But  the  story  is  open  to 
doubt.  It  is  told  of  the  designers  of  many 
famous  buildings,  including  the  cathedral 
at  Strasburg.  The  church  of  the  Assump- 
tion is  very  fine  and  well  worthy  of  a  visit. 
Within  the  walls  of  the  Kremlin  are  seven 
churches,  many  of  them  very  interesting. 
In  one  of  these  the  Emperor  was  crowned. 
The  Emperor  himself  places  the  crown  on 
his  head,  he  then  crowns  the  Empress,  who 
kneels  before  him.  One  of  the  churches  in 
the  Kremlin  has  the  highest  tower  in  Russia. 
From  this  tower  the  great  bell  of  Moscow 
fell,  and  was  broken.  It  stands  on  a  pedestal 
on  the  ground,  at  least  forty  men  could 
stand  under  it.  Since  that  accident  the 
bells  are  fastened  to  the  floor  with  padlocks 
and  chains.  I  went  to  the  top  of  the  tower 
and  was  very  glad  to  get  down  again.  A 
short  time  before  our  visit  two  so-called 
gentlemen  went  up.  On  arriving  at  the 
top  one  of  them  drew  from  his  pocket  a  little 
cat  and  threw  it  over  the  parapet.  The 
poor  little  animal  turned  round  in  the  air 
several  times  ;  on  alighting  it  lay  still  for 


Life  in  the  Kremlin.  103 

a  few  moments,  then  got  up  and  ran  away, 
apparently  quite  unhurt.  It  was  done  for 
a  wager,  of  course,  but  it  was  a  brutal  act. 

Ivan  the  Terrible  was  married  six  times. 
The  Russian  Church  allows  only  three  mar- 
riages, and  in  one  of  the  churches  a  place 
is  shown  just  outside  the  consecrated  part 
where  he  was  obliged  to  sit  to  hear  divine 
service  with  his  last  three  wives. 

I  think  it  is  in  this  church  that  the  remains 
of  Demitri  the  Martyr  lie.  He  was  son  of 
Ivan  the  Terrible' s  fourth  wife,  and  became 
Emperor  at  nine  years  of  age.  Ivan  had 
three  sons  ;  the  eldest  he  killed  with  a  blow 
from  a  bar  of  iron  ;  the  second  son  became 
epileptic,  and  was  therefore,  by  Russian 
law,  unable  to  reign  ;  little  Demitri  was  the 
third  son,  son  of  the  fourth  wife.  The 
brother-in-law  of  Feodor,  second  son, 
became  Regent ;  his  name  was  Boris. 
He  found  power  very  attractive,  and 
tried,  first  of  all,  to  usurp  the  throne 
by  declaring  that  Demitri,  being  the  son 
of  the  fourth  wife,  was  illegitimate  ;  but  the 
people  were  too  much  attached  to  the  old 
dynasty  to  render  this  possible.  He  accord- 
ingly induced  the  child's  attendants  to 


104      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

leave  him  unguarded  for  half  an  hour  in  one 
of  the  courtyards  of  the  Kremlin.  When 
they  returned  all  traces  of  the  boy  had  dis- 
appeared. Boris  gave  out  that  the  child 
was  epileptic,  and  had  been  placed  under 
restraint,  which  seemed  a  probable  enough 
story,  and  there  were  no  immediate  heirs 
to  contradict  it,  as  his  sister  was  childless, 
so  he  usurped  the  throne  and  assumed  the 
title  of  Emperor. 

In  later  years  a  false  Demitri  arose,  saying 
he  had  escaped  from  prison.  In  person  he 
was  very  like  the  Imperial  family,  and  his 
cause  was  taken  up  with  great  warmth, 
especially  in  Poland,  to  which  country  he 
said  he  had  escaped,  and  he  found  many 
powerful  supporters  who  provided  him  with 
soldiers  and  money.  He  succeeded  in 
defeating  Boris,  whom  he  put  to  death,  and 
seized  the  throne.  He  ruled  neither  well 
nor  wisely,  and  was  finally  denounced  by 
someone  who  seems  to  have  known  him  well. 
The  nobility  took  up  arms  against  him, 
and  his  army  was  defeated.  He  threw  him- 
self from  a  window  in  the  Kremlin  as  the 
nobles  and  their  soldiers  were  entering  to 
take  him  prisoner.  Boris  had  had  the 


Life  in  the  Kremlin.  105 

remains  of  little  Demitri  exhumed  and 
re-interred  in  one  of  the  churches  of  the 
Kremlin.  The  Russian  Church  canonised 
the  little  martyr  to  love  of  power. 

Shortly  after  the  death  of  Boris,  the 
soldier  who  had  killed  the  child  and  a  house- 
maid who  saw  the  wicked  deed  perpetrated, 
both  confessed  the  crime.  Michael  Romanoff, 
then  a  boy  of  sixteen  years,  was  elected  by 
the  nobility  as  their  Emperor.  His  father 
had  been  viewed  with  suspicion  and  dislike 
by  Boris,  who  forced  him  into  a  monastery. 

Michael  was  a  wise  ruler,  and  soon 
brought  order  and  tranquillity  to  reign  where 
all  had  been  confusion  and  chaos.  He  had 
also  family  claims  upon  the  throne,  as  two 
of  the  former  Empresses  had  belonged  to 
the  house  of  Romanoff. 

Outside  the  gates  of  the  Kremlin  is  a 
little  church  or  shrine  in  which  is  kept 
the  "  miracle-working  "  image.  It  is  guarded 
day  and  night,  and  priests  are  set  aside  for 
its  sole  service.  Should  anyone  be  ill  and 
send  for  this  image,  it  is  placed  in  a  car- 
riage and  guarded  by  two  priests  and  taken 
to  the  house,  where  it  is  left  for  an  hour  or 
two ;  prayers  are  said  and  offerings  are 


io6      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

made,  and  the  patient  sometimes  recovers. 
There  is  no  specific  charge  made  for  the 
use  of  the  image,  but  those  requiring  its 
intercession  are  supposed  to  give  offerings 
or  a  present,  according  to  their  means. 

The  Kremlin  has  five  gates,  each  one 
guarded  by  two  copper-covered  turrets. 
The  copper  has  turned  green  with  age  and 
the  influences  of  the  weather,  and  looks  very 
picturesque.  One  of  these  gates  is  the  far- 
famed  sacred  gate.  On  it  is  hung  a  picture 
of  our  Saviour,  and  all  who  pass  beneath 
it  are  bareheaded.  The  Russians  are  a  very 
religious  people,  and  are  not  ashamed  of  out- 
ward observances.  In  this  they  remind  one 
of  the  Roman  Catholics  of  Ireland. 

At  some  little  distance  from  the  town  is 
the  palace  in  which  Napoleon  slept  during 
his  occupation  of  Moscow.  In  one  of  the 
yards  of  the  Kremlin  are  hundreds  of  French 
cannons  abandoned  during  the  calamitous 
retreat  from  Moscow.  Tolstoi  says  in  his 
great  work,  "  War  and  Peace,"  that  the 
French  were  defeated  not  through  human 
agency,  but  as  the  direct  will  of  God,  and 
laughs  to  scorn  the  idea  that  the  general 
who  retreated,  and  got  the  Moscow  folks  to 


Life  in  the  Kremlin.  107 

fire  their  own  residences,  was  actuated  by 
military  motives  ;  he  says  it  was  all  pure 
fate.  I  do  not  know,  but  almost  all  Russians 
give  him  credit  for  a  far-seeing  policy,  and 
certainly  the  results  justified  his  actions. 

Towards  the  south  Moscow  terminates  in 
a  large  red  gate,  known  as  "  The  Red  Gate." 
St.  Petersburg  also  terminates  with  a  gate, 
beyond  which  is  country.  These  are  the 
only  two  towns  I  know  which  do  so.  Some 
way  beyond  the  Red  Gate  is  a  pretty  house 
and  park,  belonging  to  the  Emperor,  called 
Niskutchni ;  it  means  "  sans  souci  "  ;  liter- 
ally, "  no  sadness."  We  often  went  there 
and  had  tea  in  the  house  or  garden,  accord- 
ing to  weather.  Snowdrops,  and  many 
flowers,  grow  wild  here  all  over  the  grass  ; 
cowslips  have  been  introduced  and  flourish 
well. 

While  we  were  in  Moscow  the  Empress 
thought  she  would  like  to  have  the  children's 
portraits  painted,  so  an  artist  was  engaged 
to  paint  them.  They  were  aged  at  this 
time  four  years,  two  and  a  half  years,  and 
two  months.  He  began  by  taking  innu- 
merable photographs  of  the  children,  then 
he  made  a  collection  of  all  existing  like- 


io8      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

nesses,  and  then  found  he  could  not  paint 
from  photographs.  He  explained  to  me  that 
it  would  not  be  artistic  to  do  so.  I  begged 
him  to  remember  what  babies  they  were, 
and  to  work  from  photographs.  But,  no  ! 
even  to  paint  their  frocks  he  insisted  upon 
them  sitting  to  him  for  three  or  four  hours 
each  day.  Of  course  the  poor  children  got 
very  impatient,  and  one  day  the  little  Grand 
Duchess  Olga  lost  her  temper,  and  said  to 
the  artist,  "  You  are  a  very  ugly  man,  and 
I  don't  like  you  a  bit."  To  my  amazement 
he  was  exceedingly  displeased,  and  replied, 
"  You  are  the  first  lady  who  has  ever  said  I 
was  ugly,  and  moreover,  I'm  not  a  man — 
I'm  a  gentleman ! "  He  could  not  under- 
stand why  I  laughed. 


log 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

IN     BELOVEGE. 

WE  returned  to  Tsarskoe  Selo  from  Moscow, 
and  stayed  there  until  we  went  to  Peter- 
hoff. 

The  Imperial  estate  in  Peterhoff  belongs 
to  the  reigning  Empress.  It  is  settled  on 
her  for  life,  and  she  must  hand  it  on  to 
the  wife  of  the  next  Emperor.  It  belongs 
at  present  to  the  Dowager  Empress  ;  at  her 
death  it  will  pass  to  the  Empress  Alexandra 
Feodorovna. 

The  story  of  Peterhoff  is  as  follows  : 
When  Nicholas  I.  was  a  young  man  he  paid 
a  visit  to  the  German  Court.  A  tournament 
was  arranged  and  the  young  Grand  Duke 
acquitted  himself  bravely.  Afterwards  all 
who  took  part  in  the  tournament  rode  up 
under  the  balcony  where  the  ladies  of  the 
family  were  seated.  The  young  princess 


no      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

of  Prussia  threw  him  a  wreath  of  roses 
which  he  caught  on  his  sword.  An  attach- 
ment speedily  sprang  up  between  the  couple 
and  they  were  married.  When  he  became 
Emperor  he  bought  what  is  now  the  private 
park  at  Peterhoff,  and  built  a  residence 
in  it,  which  he  named  The  Cottage.  In 
memory  of  his  first  meeting  the  Empress 
said  that  everything  in  the  house  should 
bear  the  device  of  a  wreath  of  roses  on  a 
sword. 

The  Dowager  Empress  is  a  very  attractive 
person.  She  has  the  full  rich  voice,  and  the 
excessive  tact  which  belong  to  the  Danish 
family,  as  well  as  their  youthful  looks.  This 
latter  fact  should  not  surprise  us,  as, 
according  to  the  old  story,  they  have  the 
stone  of  youth.  A  Limerick  man  once  went 
to  stay  in  Copenhagen,  where  he  found  him- 
self very  comfortable — one  person  vied  with 
another  to  make  him  happy.  When  he  was 
going  away  he  said  to  his  kind  entertainers, 
"Tell  me  what  I  can  do  for  you;  I  will 
go  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  to  serve  you." 
They  told  him  that  in  a  certain  spot  in  a 
field  in  County  Limerick  a  box  of  gold  was 
buried.  If  he  would  dig  up  the  box  he  would 


In  Beldvege.  in 

find  a  stone  ring.  This  ring  he  was  asked 
to  send  to  Copenhagen,  but  for  his  trouble 
he  could  keep  the  gold. 

On  arriving  in  his  own  country  the  warm- 
hearted Irishman  at  once  repaired  to  the 
field  and  quickly  unearthed  the  treasure. 
He  started  off  to  Copenhagen,  bearing  the 
box  of  gold  with  him.  He  pressed  his 
kind  friends  to  take  the  box,  but  they  in- 
sisted on  retaining  only  the  ring  of  stone, 
which  they  put  into  a  safe  place.  They 
then  addressed  him  thus  :  "  Unfortunate 
wretch !  you  have  betrayed  and  ruined 
your  country.  All  would  have  gone  well 
as  long  as  the  ring  of  youth  remained  in  her, 
but  from  henceforth  all  poverty  will  leave 
Denmark,  and  her  women  will  be  always 
young  and  beautiful,  while  Ireland  will  bear 
a  double  burden  of  poverty,  her  children 
will  be  forced  to  other  countries,  nothing 
will  thrive  in  Ireland." 

From  Peterhoff  we  went  to  Belovege,  near 
the  borders  of  Poland,  for  shooting.  There 
is  a  great  forest  as  large  as  the  whole  of 
Ireland ;  in  parts  it  is  trackless ;  people 
are  often  lost  there,  and  wander  round  and 
round  in  a  circle,  cutting  notches  in  trees 


112      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

as  they  pass  them,  and  dead  bodies  are 
frequently  found  there.  A  few  weeks  before 
we  arrived,  the  dead  body  of  a  traveller  was 
found  only  a  few  minutes'  walk  from  security. 

The  late  Emperor  had  a  clearing  made  of 
almost  three  and  a  half  square  miles,  and 
built  a  small  palace  on  a  slight  elevation. 
There  are  prettily  laid  out  gardens,  and 
the  building  itself  is  picturesque.  Inside  it 
is  much  decorated,  and  one  room  would 
delight  a  philatelist ;  it  is  altogether 
decorated  with  stamps — walls,  furniture, 
everything  are  covered  with  old  postage 
stamps.  It  has  the  effect  of  curious  looking 
mosaic.  I  have  been  told  that  many  of 
the  stamps  are  very  valuable  specimens. 
The  work  of  sticking  them  on  alone  must 
have  been  tremendous. 

In  the  forest  roam  elk,  bisons,  great  red 
deer,  and  wild  boars.  An  elk  is  the  gentlest 
creature  that  lives,  even  if  wounded  he  never 
attempts  to  turn  on  his  assailant ;  the  bison, 
however,  is  ferocious,  as  is  also  the  wild  boar. 
The  elk  is  a  very  ugly  animal,  like  a  horned 
donkey.  We  never  went  into  the  forest 
without  a  guide,  it  being  too  dangerous. 
Fires  frequently  occur,  so  a  very  strict  watch 


In  Beldvege.  113 

is  kept  for  remains  of  fires  lighted  by  gipsies 
and  others  passing  through  the  forest.  Forest 
fires  are  put  out  by  cutting  down  trees 
and  digging  a  ditch  outside  the  fire,  but 
they  sometimes  rage  for  days.  There  are 
many  venomous  snakes  in  the  forest,  there- 
fore one  must  be  cautious.  I  realised  more 
in  Belovege  than  anywhere  else  how  terrible 
nature  can  be  in  her  solitary  places.  The 
forest  frightened  me  with  its  unknown 
possibilities  of  danger.  I  believe  wild  men 
are  more  to  be  feared  there,  than  wild 
beasts.  These  are  men  who  have  been 
deprived  of  their  passports  and  sent  into 
the  country. 

Just  before  we  went  to  Belovege  there 
had  been  an  outbreak  of  smallpox  in  the 
village  and  surrounding  country.  It  was 
treated  in  what  is  called  the  Swedish  method. 
Every  patient  was  vaccinated  seven  times 
on  successive  days.  The  treatment  was  most 
successful ;  there  had  been  two  hundred 
and  fifty  cases  and  four  of  them  were  babies 
under  a  year  old.  Not  a  single  patient  died, 
nor  were  any  of  them  disfigured  by  this 
terrible  disease. 

From  Belovege  we  went  to  Spala  in  Poland 

8 


114      Si*  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

for  shooting.  Here  there  is  little  big  game, 
and  the  forest  is  much  smaller  than  that  of 
Belovege,  only  being  about  as  large  as 
Yorkshire.  It  is  also  more  open  ;  a  pretty 
river  in  which  boating  may  be  had  runs 
through  the  estate. 

Various  surprises  had  been  arranged  for 
the  children.  In  a  little  orchard  a  tea-house 
had  been  built  and  about  a  dozen  tame  deer 
turned  in,  besides  tame  pheasants,  hares, 
etc.  These  creatures  would  all  come  and 
eat  from  our  hands,  and  the  deer  would 
follow  me  about  everywhere,  lay  their  pretty 
heads  on  my  arm  and,  looking  beseechingly 
in  my  face,  seem  to  beg  for  notice.  The 
Grand  Duchess  Tatiana  named  them  "  the 
pretty  creatures "  and  by  this  name  they 
were  henceforth  known.  Outside  the  palings 
enclosing  this  fairyland  flowed  a  river  in 
which  swam  all  manner  of  water-fowl  which 
would  come  to  be  fed ;  so  it  was  a  regular 
paradise  for  children. 

A  further  surprise  awaited  them  in  the 
shape  of  a  little  goat-carriage  drawn  by  a 
pair  of  goats,  each  led  by  a  boy  in  Polish 
costume,  a  long  frock  coat  of  white  home- 
spun decorated  with  black  braid,  and  a  high 


In  Belovege.  115 

crowned  black  felt  hat  trimmed  gaily  with 
bands  of  black  velvet  ribbon,  coloured  paper 
flowers  and  a  rosette  of  different  coloured 
ribbons.  The  trimming  was  pinned  on  the 
hat! 


8* 


n6 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE  YOUNG  OFFICER  AND  THE  DOLLS. 

WE  went  to  the  Crimea  on  leaving  Spala. 
We  arrived  at  Alma  just  at  bedtime,  and  I 
was  disappointed  not  to  see  anything  of 
that  famous  battle  ground.  On  waking  in 
the  morning  I  was  delighted  to  find  we  were 
still  in  the  station,  so  I  had  a  good  look  at 
it  from  the  windows.  We  started  about 
eight  o'clock  and  were  soon  going  through 
most  beautiful  country.  High  mountains 
clothed  with  trees,  most  beautiful  in  their 
autumn  colouring  ;  I  never  saw  such  foliage. 
Shortly  afterwards  we  came  to  Inkermann. 
Here  is  a  wonderful  monastery  hewn  in  the 
side  of  a  great  cliff.  Nature  made  most  of 
the  caves  which  are  used  as  rooms,  but  the 
monks  themselves  did  much  excavation. 
The  windows  and  doors  are  manufactured 


The  Young  Officer  and  the  Dolls.      117 

and   the   monastery    is   well   furnished   and 
contains  a  very  beautiful  church. 

Shortly  after  leaving  Inkermann  we 
arrived  in  Sevastopol.  The  Russians  pro- 
nounce it  Sevastopol,  with  the  accent  on 
the  third  syllable.  Here  the  yacht  was 
awaiting  us  and  we  went  on  board.  I  am 
particularly  fond  of  yachting  as  long  as 
we  are  at  anchor,  but  when  we  begin  to 
move,  it  is  quite  a  different  story. 

Sevastopol  would  appear  quite  impregnable, 
situated  as  it  is  on  high  barren  cliffs  rising 
straight  out  of  the  water ;  one  wonders 
how  the  allied  armies  ever  effected  a  landing. 
I  was  looking  at  it,  thinking  of  these  things, 
when  Baron  M.,  who  is  the  general  of  a 
Cossack  regiment,  asked  me  of  what  I  was 
thinking.  I  told  him,  and  with  a  twinkle 
in  his  eyes  he  told  me  the  following  yarn : 
"  You  see,"  said  he,  "  the  poor  Russians 
were  very  hungry  and  the  cook  prepared 
a  particularly  nice  dinner.  They  all  ran 
off  when  they  heard  the  dinner  bell,  and 
the  English  calmly  walked  in,  and  when  the 
Russians  returned  the  English  were  waiting 
for  their  dinner  inside  the  town.  It  was  a 
great  shock  to  the  Russians."  I  thanked 


u8      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

him  politely  for  his  addition  to  my  know- 
ledge of  history,  and  he  told  me  he  would 
always  be  very  happy  to  supplement  my 
education,  but  that  if  what  I  heard  from 
him  was  different  from  what  I  had  heard,  I 
could  believe  whichever  I  liked. 

We  only  stayed  one  day  at  Sevastopol 
that  time,  and  proceeded  by  sea  to  Yalta. 
The  Black  Sea  is  usually  very  rough  and  this 
time  was  no  exception.  The  journey  from 
Sevastopol  to  Yalta  is  about  fourteen  hours 
long ;  we  had  sailed  in  the  night,  so  we 
arrived  early  next  day.  It  was  a  great 
relief  to  be  once  more  on  terra  firma. 

Yalta  is  a  pretty  little  town  with  a  large 
holiday  population  ;  out  of  season  there  are 
very  few  people.  The  shops  are  shut  and 
the  owners  of  them  start  to  the  Caucasus 
or  to  the  more  remote  parts  of  Russia, 
and  buy  or  sell  there.  Many  of  the  shop- 
keepers are  Jews ;  some  are  Armenians. 
One  shop  I  knew  was  kept  by  a  little 
Armenian  woman  and  her  husband.  She 
had  been  rescued  by  some  missionaries 
and  placed  in  an  English  mission  school, 
where  she  learnt  to  speak  English.  She 
adored  Mr.  Gladstone,  and  quite  believed 


View  of  Yalta. 


The  Imperial  I'aluce,  Livadia. 


[Facing  page  118. 


The  Young  Officer  and  the  Dolls.      119 

that  he  was  inspired.  She  had  a  nice  little 
shop  with  all  manner  of  Eastern  articles- 
Caucasian  silver  and  pretty  things  suitable 
for  presents.  Some  of  these  fancy  trifles 
are  very  reasonable  in  price  whilst  others 
are  more  expensive  than  in  London.  Silver 
is,  however,  cheap  and  very  quaint. 

Livadia,  as  the  Emperor's  estate  is  called, 
is  half-way  up  a  mountain,  and  is  surrounded 
by  vast  vineyards  sloping  down  to  the  sea. 
The  grapes  are  delicious.  The  Black  Sea, 
like  the  Baltic,  is  tideless.  At  Livadia  is  a 
stony  beach  where  the  children  played  every 
morning.  They  would  get  on  their  paddling 
drawers  and  shoes,  and  go  wading  in  the 
sun-warmed  water,  and  gather  pebbles.  On 
one  occasion  I  was  taking  them  home  when 
we  met  a  young  officer  from  the  Standart. 
He  asked  them  what  they  had  in  their  hands 
and  the  children  showed  the  little  bits  of 
green  stones  they  had  picked  up,  and  gravely 
asked  him  to  keep  them  if  he  would  like 
to.  He  took  a  little  stone  from  each  child 
and  when  I  afterwards  saw  them  they  were 
mounted  in  gold  and  attached  to  his  watch 
chain.  He  said  he  would  not  part  with  them 
for  any  earthly  consideration,  the  children 


I2O      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

having  found  them  themselves,  and  offered 
them  to  him.  Indeed,  it  was  very  amusing 
to  see  the  way  in  which  people  regarded  these 
little  maidens.  On  one  occasion  we  were 
getting  into  the  carriage  at  Peterhoff  when 
an  officer  came  running  over  to  say  good- 
morning.  The  little  Grand  Duchesses,  who 
were  friendly  creatures,  began  to  talk  to  him, 
and  one  of  them  took  a  little  wooden  toy 
from  her  pocket  and  asked  him  if  he  would 
like  it.  He  was  much  pleased  and  afterwards 
turned  to  me  and  said  he  was  in  trouble, 
and  seeing  the  children  coming  out,  thought 
that  if  he  could  reach  the  carriage  in  time 
to  bow  to  the  children  he  would  find  a  way 
out  of  his  troubles.  "  And  see,"  said  he, 
"  not  only  did  I  bow  to  them  but  I  kissed 
their  hands  and  received  a  little  toy  from 
one  of  them.  I  shall  keep  that  toy  as  long 
as  I  live."  When  next  I  met  him  he  told 
me  the  omen  had  been  verified,  and  he 
had  found  a  way  out  of  his  trouble. 

There  was  a  tall  young  German  officer  in 
the  Guards,  and  he  used  to  ask  the  Grand 
Duchess  Olga  for  a  doll ;  a  little  tiny  one 
that  he  could  keep  in  his  pocket  and  play 
with  while  he  was  on  guard  would  give 


The  Young  Officer  and  the  Dolls.      121 

him  much  pleasure,  so  he  declared.  Poor 
little  Olga  Nicolaivna  did  not  know  if  he 
was  joking  or  in  earnest.  I  told  her  I  was 
sure  the  doll  would  give  him  much  pleasure, 
and  that  it  should  be  a  very  small  one. 
She  presently  brought  me  a  couple  of  very 
tiny  dolls  dressed  as  boys,  one  minus  a  foot, 
the  other  without  an  arm.  I  said  I  thought 
it  would  be  better  to  give  unbroken  dolls, 
and  she  replied,  "  Yes,  but  these  are  boys 
and  he  is  a  man,  I  am  afraid  he  would  not 
like  a  little  girl  dollie."  I  then  told  her 
to  ask  him  when  she  saw  him. 

Next  morning  the  doll  was  put  into  her 
pocket  and  in  the  course  of  our  walk  we  met 
Captain  S.,  who  immediately  began  to  re- 
proach her  for  having  forgotten  how  lonely 
he  was  and  what  company  a  little  doll  would 
be  to  him.  She  plunged  her  hand  into  her 
pocket  and  produced  the  doll,  holding  it 
behind  her  back.  "  Which  would  you  rather 
have/'  she  said  seriously,  "  a  boy  or  a  girl 
doll  ?  "  He  answered,  quite  seriously,  "  A 
little  girl  doll  would  be  like  you,  and  I  should 
love  it  very  much,  but  a  boy  would  be  very 
companionable."  She  was  quite  delighted 
and  gave  him  the  doll,  saying,  "  I  am  glad, 


122      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

I  was  so  afraid  you  would  not  like  the  girl." 
He  put  the  doll  away  most  carefully. 

Shortly  afterwards  the  young  officer  went 
for  his  holidays.  When  he  returned,  the  first 
day  he  saw  the  little  Grand  Duchess  he  began 
as  formerly  to  beg  for  a  doll.  She  said 
reproachfully,  "Is  it  possible  you  have 
already  broken  the  nice  little  doll  I  gave 
you  ?  "  With  great  tact  he  explained  that 
the  little  doll  was  lonely  all  by  itself,  and 
wanted  a  companion,  and  that  it  did  not 
matter  if  it  was  broken  ;  so  another  dollie 
was  carried  about  for  several  days  till  she 
met  him  again  and  gave  it  to  him. 

The  sun-warmed  sea  looked  very  tempting, 
and  I  thought  I  should  like  to  bathe  in  it, 
but  I  had  no  bathing-dress.  I  accordingly 
sent  one  of  the  under-nurses  to  Yalta  to  get 
one,  either  a  ready-made  costume  or  stuff  to 
make  one.  When  she  returned  she  said 
the  only  thing  she  could  find  was  a  Russian 
peasant's  red  cotton  shirt,  and  she  supposed 
I  would  not  like  that.  I  was  quite  of  the 
same  opinion,  but  asked  if  she  had  been  able 
to  get  serge  or  galatea  of  which  I  could 
make  a  costume.  She  told  me  she  had 
gone  into  a  shop  where  they  sold  stuffs 


The  Young  Officer  and  the  Dolls.      123 

and  asked  for  something  to  make  a  bathing- 
dress.  The  woman  asked  her  if  it  was  for 
herself,  and  she  replied  that  it  was  for 
another  person.  The  shopkeeper  turned 
scornfully  upon  her  and  said:  "Bathing- 
dress,  indeed  !  French  fashions  !  Tell  her 
to  go  and  bathe  in  her  skin  as  her  grand- 
mother did  before  her." 

At  Massandra,  half-way  up  a  mountain 
at  the  other  side  of  Yalta,  is  a  delightful 
rose  garden.  The  roses  look  like  two  walls, 
one  at  each  side  of  the  path.  At  the  back 
are  reve  d'ors,  trained  on  espaliers ;  they 
attain  a  height  of  seven  or  eight  feet.  In 
front  of  them  are  dwarf  specimens  in  all 
colours  and  shades,  down  to  tiny  pink  and 
white  trees  not  more  than  a  foot  in  height. 
All  the  ground  at  the  foot  of  those  rose  trees 
is  carpeted  with  violets.  In  the  background 
stand  cypresses  like  grave  sentries.  I  got 
to  love  the  cypress,  while  it  is  green,  but  no 
tree  looks  half  so  ghostly,  when  it  is  dead. 
There  are  many  tropical  plants  and  trees 
in  this  lovely  garden.  Deodars  from  the 
Himalayas,  monkey-puzzles  as  large  as  forest 
trees,  great  mangolias,  and  many  others 
of  which  I  did  not  know  the  names.  Higher 


124      S*x  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

up  the  mountain  is  a  second  rose  garden. 
Here  the  roses  are  trained  to  grow  along 
wires  stretched  horizontally  about  a  foot 
from  the  ground.  The  effect  is  as  of  sheets 
of  flowers.  There  is  a  great  bed  of  La 
France  roses,  another  of  yellow  roses  in  all 
shades,  and  still  another  of  mixed  red,  pink 
and  white  roses.  These  beds  were  each  at 
least  one  hundred  feet  long  by  perhaps 
seventy  wide.  This  garden  is  also  enclosed 
by  stately  cypresses  looking  like  sentries 
mounting  guard. 

At  Aloupka,  on  the  Livadia  side  of  Yalta, 
is  a  beautiful  residence.  There  is  an  avenue 
of  mangolias  stretching  for  about  a  mile,  a 
lovely  sight  when  the  trees  are  covered  with 
white  blossoms,  the  perfume  of  which  is 
delicious. 

The  entrance  to  the  house  is  very  imposing, 
great  flights  of  white  marble  steps  with 
beautifully  sculptured  lions  on  each  landing. 
The  property  round  this  fine  house  has  fallen 
into  terrible  decay.  I  never  saw  anything 
like  the  neglected  state  of  the  fields.  Nothing 
one  could  see  but  weeds  and  stone  though 
all  around  are  well  cultivated  fields  and 
tobacco  farms,  paying  very  well. 


The  Young  Officer  and  the  Dolls.      125 

It  seems  the  proprietor  of  Aloupka  is  still 
a  minor ;  he  inherited  when  he  was  a  baby. 
His  mother  and  trustees  sold  the  farms 
to  the  peasants,  who  certainly  have  neglected 
their  holdings.  The  young  proprietor  lives 
abroad  and  I  am  told  is  unable  to  speak  even 
a  word  of  Russian. 

Both  the  inside  of  the  house  and  gardens 
are  in  habitable  order.  I  have  been  told 
that  the  boy  possesses  a  great  estate  in  the 
Black  Earth  district,  so  when  he  is  grown 
he  may  return  to  Russia  and  make  acquaint- 
ance with  his  own  people. 

The  next  property  to  Livadia  is  Orianda. 
It  formerly  belonged  to  the  Grand  Duke 
Constantine,  but  the  Emperor  recently 
bought  it.  Unfortunately  the  house  was 
burned  down  seven  years  ago  and  has  never 
been  rebuilt.  I  expect  it  will  be  prepared 
for  the  Czarovitch  when  he  is  grown  up. 
Little  except  the  foundations  remain. 

There  is  a  little  church  on  the  property 
the  belfry  of  which  is  a  great  oak  tree.  Here 
the  bells  are  suspended  from  the  boughs,  a 
platform  has  been  erected  with  a  flight  of 
steps  leading  up  to  it.  The  great  bell  is 
only  rung  in  cases  of  fire. 


126      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

The  grounds  of  Orianda  are  very  pretty 
and  we  frequently  took  tea  there.  There 
are  shallow  basins  in  the  grounds  with  gold- 
fish. When  we  returned  to  the  Crimea 
two  years  after,  the  goldfish  had  dis- 
appeared. I  asked  what  had  become  of 
them.  The  man  said,  "  Alas  !  we  wanted 
to  clean  out  their  little  lakes,  so  with  great 
care  we  captured  the  goldfish  and  put 
them  into  the  large  pond  in  which  the  swans 
live,  but  we  could  not  find  them  again." 
"  No,"  said  I,  "  of  course  not,  the  swans 
ate  then."  He  held  up  his  hands  and  ex- 
claimed in  horror  :  "  Oh  no,  Miss,  those 
swans  are  particularly  tame;  his  Majesty 
takes  great  notice  of  them ;  they  would 
never  eat  anything  that  belonged  to  the 
Emperor." 

Beyond  Orianda  is  Ai  Toder,  or  St. 
Theodore's,  the  residence  of  the  Grand  Duke 
Alexander  who  is  married  to  the  Emperor's 
sister,  the  Grand  Duchess  Xenia  Alex- 
androvina.  They  have  five  sons  and  a 
daughter,  all  pretty  and  interesting  children. 
Ai  Toder  is  a  very  nice  place,  and  they 
spend  a  great  deal  of  time  in  the  Crimea. 

In   walking   through   Yalta  one   hears    so 


The  Young  Officer  and  the  Dolls.      127 

many  different  tongues,  and  sees  so  many 
nationalities  that  I  was  reminded  of  the 
day  of  Pentecost  in  Jerusalem. 

Here  you  meet  a  Turkish  family,  the 
women  all  closely  veiled  with  the  exception 
of  one  eye  with  which  they  closely  scrutinise 
you.  It  makes  you  uncomfortable  to  see 
the  one  eye  gazing  at  you  and  not  to  see 
anything  in  return.  Again  you  will  meet 
Tartars — lively  looking  people,  tall,  and 
generally  slight  and  athletic  looking.  They 
would  need  to  be  athletic,  as  they  generally 
perch  their  villages  on  the  top  of  an  almost 
inaccessible  cliff.  They  all  dye  their  hair 
a  vivid  red,  and  the  married  women  blacken 
their  teeth  and  paint  the  palms  of  their 
hands.  They  say  the  Tartar  houses  are 
most  beautifully  clean. 

The  unmarried  Tartar  women  only  dye 
the  hair,  they  wear  on  their  heads  a  little 
round  velvet  cap  with  a  veil  hanging  behind. 
This  veil  is  of  a  sort  of  canvas,  and  is  em- 
broidered with  gold  and  silver. 

There  are  many  Greeks  who  seem  to  do 
nothing  but  sleep  in  the  sun.  They  manage 
to  live,  however,  and  are,  I  believe,  very 
shrewd  in  business.  They  seem  contented 


128      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

with  things  in  general  though  they  are  both 
ragged  and  dirty.  Armenians,  Greeks,  full- 
blooded  Russians,  all  in  native  costumes, 
make  up  a  very  pretty  scene. 

In  Odessa  and  the  Crimea  the  Karaites 
are  principally  found.  These  are  a  race 
of  Tartars  who  embraced  Judaism.  They 
are  a  small  tribe,  only  about  ten  thousand  in 
all  Russia.  They  are  very  good  citizens, 
quite  the  best  among  the  alien  races  in  Russia. 
Their  Judaism  is  of  the  Old  Testament,  and 
they  entirely  reject  the  Talmud,  but  to 
Western  minds  their  ideas  are  peculiar  and 
very  wrong.  Their  women  are  taught  no 
religion  and  can  only  hope  to  be  saved 
through  the  intervention  of  their  husbands  ; 
consequently  their  girls  are  married  very 
young. 

They  are  physically  superior  to  the  Jews, 
but  they  do  not  seem  to  increase  rapidly. 
I  met  a  Karaite  family ;  well  educated,  nicely 
mannered  people  they  were,  some  of  them 
very  handsome.  They  speak,  even  in  their 
own  houses,  Russian,  not  the  Tartar  language, 
and  are  considered  in  every  respect,  except 
religion,  as  Russians. 

It  was  while  we  were  in  the  Crimea  that 


The  Young  Officer  and  the  Dolls.      129 

the  Emperor  had  typhoid  fever.  It  was 
raging  all  round  us  at  the  time.  At  Ai 
Toder  there  were  sixteen  or  seventeen  cases. 
It  was  very  bad  in  various  Tartar  villages 
higher  up  the  mountains. 

Those  five  weeks  while  he  was  lying  ill 
were  a  very  anxious  time  for  the  house- 
hold, and  great  were  the  rejoicings  when 
he  recovered. 

A  little  friend  of  the  children,  Paul,  was 
ill  at  the  same  time  with  pneumonia.  The 
doctors  said  recovery  was  doubtful.  The 
Empress  told  me  to  call  round  there  with 
the  children  in  the  carriage,  and  take  poor 
little  Paul  a  few  roses  and  anything  likely 
to  tempt  his  appetite.  Accordingly  we  got  a 
few  roses,  packed  a  basket  with  delicacies, 
and  went  to  inquire.  The  whole  household 
was  in  despair ;  they  had  had  a  visit  from 
a  specialist  that  day,  and  his  verdict  had 
been  unfavourable.  We  saw  the  children's 
English  governess  and  she  gave  me  a  very 
sad  account  of  poor  little  Paul.  She  took 
up  the  roses  and  basket,  and  told  him  the 
Imperial  children  had  brought  them  to  him, 
and  were  down  in  the  garden  waiting  to 
know  how  he  was.  Paul  sent  his  thanks  to 

9 


130      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

the  children,  and  then  said,  "  Send  Daria 
to  me."  The  little  sister  was  accordingly 
sent  for  and  came  into  the  room  in  a  very 
subdued  and  meek  manner  to  receive  Paul's 
parting  charges.  "  Daria,"  said  the  supposed 
dying  child,  "  you  see  the  Imperial  children 
think  a  great  deal  more  of  me  than  they 
do  of  you  ;  when  you  had  a  cold  they  did 
not  even  send  to  inquire  by  telephone. 
They  have  come  themselves,  and  have  brought 
me  all  these  good  things.  I  am  going  to  eat 
them  and  get  well."  Comforted  with  this 
thought  he  fell  asleep  and  eventually  did 
get  well. 


CHAPTER     XV. 

THE    LITTLE    PRISON    OPENER. 

WE  spent  Christmas  that  year  in  the  Crimea, 
and  brought  in  quantities  of  holly  and  ivy 
to  decorate  the  house.  Holly  does  not  grow 
in  the  north  of  Russia  at  all ;  the  climate  is 
too  severe  for  it. 

The  children  were  greatly  charmed  with 
the  decorations,  and  pulled  each  other  under 
the  mistletoe  for  kissing  purposes.  A  heavy 
fall  of  snow  had  blocked  up  the  railway 
lines,  and  we  were  afraid  there  would  be 
no  Christmas  parcels  from  either  England  or 
Gatchina.  However,  the  special  messengers 
had  taken  sledges  and  come  across  the 
mountains,  so  the  gifts  were  all  received  on 
Christmas  Eve  in  time  for  the  trees.  We 
had  our  Christmas  tree  as  usual,  and  little 
Marie  was  specially  delighted  with  it,  as 
she  could  not  remember  anything  of  the 
kind.  She  said  to  the  Emperor,  who  was 

9* 


132      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

just  beginning  to  get  about,  "  Papa,  did 
you  ever  see  anything  so  beautiful  ?  " 

It  was  late  in  January  when  we  left  the 
Crimea.  We  were  all  in  bed  on  board  the 
Standart  when  a  special  messenger  came  on 
board  bringing  the  news  of  the  death  of 
Queen  Victoria.  The  telegram  was  not 
opened  till  next  morning  ;  the  Empress  was 
greatly  grieved.  There  was  much  searching 
for  mourning,  and  fortunately  everyone  had 
something  black  with  them. 

We  arrived  in  St.  Petersburg  on  Saturday, 
and  I  had  a  rush  to  get  a  suitable  hat  to 
wear  at  church  on  Sunday.  The  church  was 
crowded  and  everyone  there  was  dressed  in 
mourning,  some  even  wore  crepe.  I  never 
saw  anything  so  melancholy  in  my  life. 

There  were,  of  course,  no  balls  given  that 
year  on  account  of  the  heavy  mourning. 
The  Crown  Prince  of  Austria  came  on  a 
visit.  He  had  a  quiet  time,  but  some 
dinners  were  given  in  his  honour.  On  one 
occasion  there  was  a  large  dinner  party  in 
the  Winter  Palace.  The  Major  Domo  carried 
in  a  dish  of  fish,  and  began  to  hand  it  round  ; 
suddenly  he  fell — the  fish  was  spilt  on  the 
carpet  and  the  Empress's  dress.  In  great 


The  Little  Prison  Opener.  133 

confusion  he  got  out  of  the  room  ;  he  then 
came  in  with  another  dish  ;  some  of  the  fish 
must  have  remained  on  the  carpet  for  the 
unfortunate  man  again  fell  and  gave  the 
Empress  a  liberal  helping  of  whatever  he 
was  carrying.  The  second  time  was  too 
much.  All  the  company  simply  laughed 
till  they  were  tired. 

Though  there  was  no  ball  season,  the 
children  began  to  go  out  a  great  deal,  and  to 
give  little  parties  at  home. 

One  day  the  little  Grand  Duchess  Marie 
was  looking  out  of  the  window  at  a  regi- 
ment of  soldiers  marching  past,  and  ex- 
claimed, "  Oh  !  I  love  these  dear  soldiers  ; 
I  should  like  to  kiss  them  all !  "  I  said, 
"  Marie,  nice  little  girls  don't  kiss  soldiers." 
She  made  no  remark.  A  few  days  afterwards 
we  had  a  children's  party,  and  the  Grand 
Duke  Constantine's  children  were  amongst 
the  guests.  One  of  them,  having  reached 
twelve  years  of  age,  had  been  put  into  the 
Corps  de  Cadets,  and  came  in  his  uniform. 
He  wanted  to  kiss  his  little  cousin  Marie, 
but  she  put  her  hand  over  her  mouth  and 
drew  back  from  the  proffered  embrace. 
"  Go  away,  soldier,"  said  she,  with  great 


134      S™  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

dignity.  "  I  don't  kiss  soldiers."  The  boy 
was  greatly  delighted  at  being  taken  for  a 
real  soldier,  and  not  a  little  amused  at  the 
same  time. 

I  saw  a  great  deal  of  St.  Petersburg  that 
year,  and  visited,  amongst  other  places  of 
interest,  the  Mint.  I  believe  it  is  the  largest 
in  the  world.  When  I  went  they  were 
minting  gold.  They  do  all  the  melting  with 
wood  fires,  great  furnaces.  I  do  not  know 
how  the  men  can  stand  over  them.  They 
have  a  piece  of  gold  there  which  the  Grand 
Duke  Vladimir  himself  refined.  In  com- 
parison to  it  an  English  sovereign  looks 
like  copper.  One  of  the  workmen  invented 
a  table  by  which  gold  can  be  counted  very 
quickly.  This  table  is  all  divided  into  little 
squares ;  one  thousand  ten-rouble  pieces 
exactly  fills  each  square.  They  can  count 
them  about  twenty  thousand  pieces  of  money 
in  an  incredibly  short  space  of  time.  Some 
of  the  machinery  used  is  of  a  very  fine  and 
delicate  nature.  They  mint  here  for  the 
whole  Russian  Empire,  and  here,  too,  are 
struck  the  medals  and  decorations  in  use 
in  Russia. 

I  also  saw  the  cathedral  of  Notre  Dame 


The  Little  Prison  Opener.  135 

de  Kazan.  There  are  always  many  wor- 
shippers in  the  Russian  churches.  One  poor 
woman  was  walking  down  the  church  on  her 
knees.  In  the  church  itself  were  sellers  of 
holy  pictures.  A  lady  who  was  with  me 
suggested  she  would  buy  me  one  of  these 
and  I  should  buy  her  one  in  memory  of  this 
visit.  I  agreed,  and  she  accordingly  chose 
for  herself  the  Madonna  and  Child.  I  paid 
for  it  forty  kopecks,  which  is  about  tenpence 
of  our  money.  This  included  in  the  blessing, 
so  it  was  cheap  enough.  It  was  now  my  turn 
to  choose,  and  I  liked  one  with  a  picture  of 
St.  George  and  the  Dragon.  It  struck  me  as 
being  such  a  beautiful  thing  for  adoration. 
I  put  it  up  in  my  sitting-room  across  one  of 
the  corners.  Later  on,  the  old  archbishop, 
who  gave  the  little  Grand  Duchess  Olga 
religious  instruction,  came  to  lunch  with 
me.  He  looked  at  this  icon,  and  said, 
'  But  your  name  is  not  Georgette,  is  it  ?  " 
I  answered,  "  No,  father  ;  but  it  was  given 
to  me  by  a  friend."  "  Oh  !  "  said  he,  "  and 
his  name  was  George  !  "  and  he  nodded  his 
head  in  a  most  knowing  way.  It  so  happens 
that  my  friend  is  called  Lilian.  But  I  let 
it  pass. 


136      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

We  also  visited  the  cathedral  of  St.  Isaac. 
This,  of  course,  is  not  the  Isaac  of  the  Bible 
but  a  more  modern  saint.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  Westminster  Abbey,  I  know  of  no 
church  which  pleases  more  than  St.  Isaac. 
There  is  a  beautiful  golden  screen,  and 
pillars  of  malachite,  lapis  lazulias  and  Italian 
marble.  I  particularly  admired  the  bronze 
doors ;  the  workmanship  of  them  is  very 
beautiful.  Personally,  I  seldom  admire 
icons  ;  they  are  curious,  but  not  to  my  mind 
beautiful ;  but  St.  Isaac's  contains  some  very 
fine  specimens.  I  stood  under  the  dome, 
and,  looking  up,  saw  a  dove  apparently  life- 
size.  I  was  afterwards  told  it  measured 
twelve  feet  from  the  tip  of  one  wing  to  the 
tip  of  the  other. 

The  nursery  party  went  to  Tsarskoe  Selo 
very  early  that  year,  the  Emperor  and  Em- 
press staying  on  in  St.  Petersburg.  We 
returned  to  town  at  Easter,  going  back  to 
Tsarskoe  Selo  until  it  was  time  to  go  to 
PeterhofL  Just  before  we  went  to  Peterhoff 
that  year,  the  Grand  Duchess  Olga  had 
typhoid  fever.  She  had  been  ailing  for  a 
few  days,  but  the  weather  was  unusually 
hot  for  the  time  of  the  year,  and  we  thought 


The  Little  Prison  Opener.  137 

that  might  be  the  cause  and  that  the  cooler 
air  of  the  seaside  would  probably  be  bene- 
ficial to  her,  so  the  journey  was  not  post- 
poned. But  when  we  arrived  at  Peterhoff 
she  was  very  ill,  and  had  to  be  put  to  bed 
at  once.  She  lay  there  through  five  long 
weary  weeks.  I  nursed  her  day  and  night, 
and  at  one  time  she  was  so  ill  that  I  feared 
she  would  not  recover ;  but  thank  God  she 
did.  She  wearied  to  see  her  sister  Tatiana, 
and  was  very  pleased  when  the  doctor  said 
Tatiana  might  pay  her  a  visit  for  just  five 
minutes.  I  went  down  and  fetched  her  to 
see  Olga.  She  stood  by  the  side  of  the  bed 
and  conversed  in  a  most  amiable  manner  to 
the  little  sick  sister.  I  was  rather  surprised 
at  her  manner,  and  when  the  five  minutes 
were  up,  told  her  I  must  take  her  down  to 
the  nursery  again.  When  she  got  outside 
of  the  door,  she  exclaimed  :  "  You  told  me 
you  were  bringing  me  to  see  Olga  and  I 
have  not  seen  her."  I  told  her  that  the 
little  girl  in  bed  was  indeed  her  sister.  She 
cried  with  great  grief.  '  That  little  pale 
thin  child  is  my  dear  sister  Olga  !  Oh  no, 
no  !  I  cannot  believe  it  !  "  She  wept  bit- 
terly at  the  change,  and  it  was  difficult  to 


138      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

persuade  her  that  Olga  would  soon  be  her- 
self again. 

Olga  was  still  in  bed  when  little  Anastasie 
was  born.  Anastasie  means  "  the  breaker 
of  chains/'  or  "  the  prison  opener,"  and  in 
the  icon  sacred  to  her  she  is  always  repre- 
sented with  broken  fetters  behind  her.  The 
little  Grand  Duchess  was  called  by  this 
name  because,  in  honour  of  her  birth,  the 
Emperor  pardoned  and  reinstated  the  stu- 
dents who  had  been  imprisoned  for  partici- 
pating in  the  riots  in  St.  Petersburg  and 
Moscow  during  the  winter.  Alas  !  many  of 
them  were  soon  after  in  a  state  of  revolu- 
tion. 

I  cannot  tell  why  the  students  are  so  rest- 
less in  the  Russian  universities.  They  must 
know  that  in  no  country  is  the  Government 
committed  into  the  hands  of  young  men 
studying  for  their  professions.  We  are  told 
that  there  is  little  or  no  entrance  examination, 
no  age  disqualifications,  and  the  fees  are  very 
low.  Every  professor  has  a  certain  number 
of  free  students  who  are  elected  to  the  order 
in  which  they  apply.  Many  of  these  stu- 
dents have  been  failures,  more  or  less,  in 
other  branches  of  life,  and  naturally  enough 


The  Little  Prison  Opener.  139 

they  are  also  failures  in  the  universities. 
When  they  fail  in  their  examinations  they 
say  the  examiners  favoured  so-and-so  be- 
cause he  is  rich,  quite  regardless  of  the 
fact  that  failure  to  pass  an  examination  does 
not  affect  these  free  scholarships  at  all. 

The  anarchists,  of  whom  many  are  to  be 
found  in  the  universities  in  the  guise  of 
students,  find  these  discontented  men  an 
easy  prey,  but  tell  them  they  will  always  be 
passed  over  in  life  till  all  men  are  equal,  etc. 
Sipiaguin  and  Plevhe  were  both  murdered 
by  students. 

Sipiaguin' s  murderer  was  hanged,  because 
for  the  purpose  of  getting  near  his  victim 
he  assumed  the  uniform  of  an  officer,  and 
represented  that  he  was  aide-de-camp  to  the 
Grand  Duke  Serge,  who  had  sent  him  with 
a  letter  to  the  university  ;  he  refused  to 
give  any  account  of  himself,  and  was  conse- 
quently tried  as  an  officer  by  the  War 
Council,  who  alone  can  pass  sentence  of 
death  in  Russia.  There  is  no  capital  punish- 
ment except  for  military  offences. 

All  university  students  wear  uniform. 
The  constitution  of  the  Russian  universities 
may  be  the  cause  of  the  frequent  outbreaks 


140      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

among  the  students.  It  is  sad  to  think  of 
the  mischief  done  to  the  cause  of  education 
and  to  the  more  serious  students,  and  the 
great  loss  of  time  and  enforced  idleness, 
when,  as  so  often  happens,  the  universities 
are  closed  for  three  or  even  six  months. 

Recently  the  students  organised  a  meet- 
ing of  protest  against  something  or  other, 
and  held  it  in  the  Nevsky,  the  principal 
street  in  St.  Petersburg.  They  chose  the 
front  of  the  cathedral  of  St.  Kazan  to  make 
their  speeches.  Divine  service  was  going 
on  at  the  time,  and  naturally  enough  the 
police  ordered  them  to  clear.  They  refused 
to  do  so,  so  the  Cossacks  charged  them, 
using  their  whips  pretty  freely.  One  woman 
student  threw  a  smoothing  iron  and  killed 
a  young  Cossack  officer  on  the  spot.  This 
enraged  the  Cossacks,  who  pressed  the  stu- 
dents more  closely.  The  latter  took  refuge 
in  the  church ;  stones  were  thrown  and 
the  officiating  priest  was  struck  on  the  head 
and  severely  wounded.  Some  hundreds  of 
students,  including  many  women,  were  ar- 
rested. They  protested  that  they  had  only 
come  out  to  walk  just  to  amuse  themselves, 
and  were  hemmed  in  by  the  Cossacks,  and 


The  Little  Prison  Opener.  141 

were  only  fighting  to  get  clear  of  the 
crowd. 

The  authorities  thought  it  was  best  to 
send  them  to  the  country  for  a  while,  and 
the  ringleaders  were  put  in  prison. 

The  Grand  Duchess  Anastasie  Nicolaivna 
was  baptised  when  she  was  a  fortnight  old. 
I  was  not  present  at  the  ceremony  as  the 
Grand  Duchess  Olga  had  not  yet  quite  re- 
covered from  the  fever.  But  the  ceremony 
was  exactly  the  same  at  that  observed  for 
the  baptism  of  the  Grand  Duchess  Marie. 

Many  people  have  expressed  surprise  that 
one  of  the  little  Grand  Duchesses  was  not 
called  Victoria  or  Alexandra.  The  Russian 
Church  only  allows  names  which  exist  in  the 
language.  Victoria  does  not  exist,  though 
Victor  does  ;  Alexandra  is  considered  very 
unlutky  for  the  Romanoff  family. 

The  Emperor  Paul  had  a  daughter  named 
Alexandra.  Her  life  was  short,  but  troubled. 
When  she  was  about  seventeen  years  of  age 
her  grandmother,  Catherine  II.,  arranged  a 
marriage  for  her  with  the  King  of  Sweden. 
The  wedding-day  arrived,  the  bride  was 
dressed,  the  tables  laid  for  the  feast,  the 
guests  assembled  and  the  priests  in  waiting. 


142      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

The  bridegroom  suddenly  declared  to  his 
gentlemen  that  he  could  not  and  would  not 
go  on  with  the  marriage.  Vainly  they 
implored  him  not  to  insult  his  chosen  bride 
and  the  great  Russian  nation.  He  was 
obstinate.  The  bride  and  her  family  waited 
for  him.  Presently  a  very  frightened  and 
trembling  courtier  crept  timidly  into  the 
room,  and  throwing  himself  on  the  ground 
before  the  august  Catherine,  broke  the 
terrible  news  to  her.  She  was  already  angry 
at  the  delay  and  her  wrath  was  terrible  to 
witness. 

The  King  of  Sweden  and  his  suite  left 
the  Winter  Palace  as  quickly  as  possible. 
A  marriage  was  speedily  arranged  for  the 
poor  humiliated  young  Grand  Duchess  with 
an  Austrian  Grand  Duke,  but  she  never 
recovered  the  shock,  and  died  broken-hearted 
at  nineteen  years  of  age. 

Nicholas  I.  had  a  very  beautiful  daughter 
named  Alexandra.  She  was  married  to  the 
step-son  of  Napoleon"  Bonaparte.  She  died 
of  scarlatina  before  she  was  twenty  years  of 
age.  There  is  a  beautiful  statue  to  her 
memory  at  Tsarskoe  Selo,  also  a  lovely  little 
memorial  church. 


The  Little  Prison  Opener.  143 

Alexandra  II.  had  a  daughter  of  the 
name ;  she  died  in  childhood ;  a  pretty 
golden-haired  child  she  was,  judging  by 
her  portrait.  A  little  blue  silk  frock  which 
she  used  to  wear  is  still  shown  in  the  Winter 
Palace. 

Other  branches  of  the  family  had  also 
Alexandras,  but  in  no  case  did  they  live  to 
be  twenty-one  years  of  age. 


144 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

MY    FIRST    MEETING    WITH    THE    KING. 

WE  went  to  Denmark  that  year.  There 
was  a  great  gathering  of  Royalties  there, 
including  the  King  and  Queen  of  Eng- 
land, Princess  Victoria  of  England,  and  her 
sister,  Princess  Charles  of  Denmark,  the 
Emperor  and  two  Empresses  of  Russia,  the 
King  of  Greece  with  one  of  his  sons,  and 
many  other  Royalties. 

We  stayed  at  Fredenburg  that  time.  It 
is  a  good  way  from  Copenhagen,  and  is  a 
great  deal  bigger  than  Bernstorff.  There 
is  a  large  park  there. 

King  Edward  VII.  arrived  after  we  did, 
and  the  day  he  was  expected  Queen  Alex- 
andra came  into  the  nurseries  and  told  me 
he  was  coming,  and  asked  me  to  make  the 
children  look  very  nice.  I  showed  her  the 
dresses  I  had  prepared  for  them,  and  she 


My  First  Meeting  with  the  King.      145 

admired  them  very  much.  She  often  said 
they  were  always  so  nicely  dressed  and  kept. 
When  we  were  leaving  the  Queen  gave  me  a 
photograph  (signed)  of  herself,  the  King  and 
his  little  grand-children,  with  such  kind  and 
gracious  words  as  she  only  can  speak. 

The  King  frequently  spoke  to  me,  too, 
and  called  me  "  My  Irish  subject."  He  has 
very  winning  manners  and  great  tact.  He 
has  a  marvellous  memory.  This  year  he 
sent  me,  in  memory  of  the  birth  of  the 
Czarovitch,  a  brooch,  in  green  enamel,  because 
I  am  Irish.  They  say  he  never  forgets  any- 
thing, and  I  know  he  never  forgets  to  be 
kind. 

We  saw  a  good  deal  of  the  Empress's 
family  that  year,  as  her  eldest  sister,  Prin- 
cess Louis  of  Battenberg,  her  husband,  and 
all  her  family  stayed  with  us  in  Peterhoff 
during  the  summer. 

Princess  Louis  of  Battenberg  has  four 
beautiful  children.  I  think  her  two 
daughters  are  about  the  handsomest  of  the 
young  grown-up  princesses  of  Europe.  The 
eldest  one,  Princess  Alice,  was  married  to 
the  Prince  Andre  of  Greece  last  year  ;  she 
is  very  pretty,  but  I  admire  the  younger 

10 


146      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

sister  more.  They  were  both  charming 
young  girls,  and  she  has  two  fine  boys. 

Some  years  ago  now  Prince  Louis's  ship 
was  stationed  in  the  Shannon.  He  went 
over  to  Kilkee  to  spend  one  night  and  see 
the  place.  .  Quite  close  to  the  station  is  a 
hotel,  very  nice  and  comfortable,  but  not 
first-class.  The  Prince  took  a  room  in  the 
hotel,  left  his  bag,  and  went  for  a  stroll. 
He  had  observed  that  the  room  con- 
tained two  beds.  When  he  returned  to  the 
hotel  he  was  surprised  to  find  one  bed  occu- 
pied by  a  commercial  traveller.  He  sent  for 
the  manageress,  and  asked  for  a  room  for 
himself.  She  was  exceedingly  angry  and 
scolded  him  violently,  winding  up  with,  "I'd 
like  to  know  who  you  are  to  object  to  anyone. 
I'm  sure  you  are  no  better  than  a  little 
commercial  traveller  yourself."  The  Prince 
replied  that  all  that  might  be  very  true, 
still  he  would  like  a  room  to  himself.  Where- 
upon the  woman  told  him  he  might  have  a 
room  in  a  small  cottage  which  she  had  taken 
outside  the  hotel.  The  Prince  accordingly 
went  to  the  little  cottage  and  slept  there. 

Prince  Louis  signed  his  name  in  the 
visitors'  book  in  the  morning,  and  the 


My  First  Meeting  with  the  King.      147 

woman's  horror  and  consternation  may 
better  be  imagined  than  described.  She 
was  absolutely  sure  that  the  Queen  would 
have  her  arrested  for  having  been  imper- 
tinent to  her  son-in-law,  as  she  called  him. 

I  was  in  Kilkee  at  the  time  the  incident 
occurred,  but  could  hardly  believe  the  story, 
but  the  Prince  himself  assured  me  that  it 
was  absolutely  true,  and  was  greatly  amused 
at  the  idea  of  meeting  anyone  from  that 
remote  spot  in  the  Imperial  Palace  of 
Peterhoff. 


10' 


148 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

LOST    IN     THE     FOREST. 

BUT  to  return  to  Kiel  and  our  journey  to 
Spala.  As  a  general  rule,  when  the  hour 
for  departure  was  late,  the  children  and  I 
went  down  to  the  train  early  in  the  evening 
when  they  were  putting  in  the  luggage,  and 
we  were  then  shunted  into  a  siding,  and  I 
got  the  children  to  bed  in  good  time  quietly 
and  comfortably  and  they  slept  till  morning. 

On  this  occasion  there  was  no  siding  long 
enough  to  hold  the  train,  so  orders  had  been 
given  that  we  were  to  move  slowly  up  and 
down,  and  arrangements  had  been  made  that 
we  should  not  disturb  the  general  traffic. 

We  were  hardly  in  the  train  when  it  went 
off  at  a  perfectly  terrific  rate — eighty-five 
miles  an  hour  I  was  afterwards  told.  In  a 
few  minutes  we  were  all  desperately  sick 


Lost  in  the  Forest.  149 

from  the  rocking.  The  poor  children  were 
terrified.  I  feared  every  moment  the  train 
would  topple  over.  The  servants  were  on 
their  knees  praying  ;  everyone  was  upset. 

With  great  difficulty  I  made  my  way  to 
the  engineer  to  beg  him  to  reduce  the  speed. 
He  was  very  sorry,  said  he  had  not  had  any 
idea  that  the  results  of  going  at  such  a  pace 
would  be  so  frightful,  but  he  could  not  now 
reduce  the  speed,  as  the  risk  of  running  into 
other  traffic  was  too  great.  Our  train  was 
too  long  and  heavy,  and  he  could  not  stop 
it  now,  not  even  for  five  minutes.  He  wished 
to  try  the  engines,  he  said,  and  thought  that 
a  good  opportunity.  For  nearly  four  hours 
we  rushed  up  and  down  in  the  darkness, 
through  Germany,  at  this  rate.  Fortunately 
I  had  got  the  children  to  bed,  and  they 
slept,  poor  little  mites,  worn  out  by  the 
fright  and  crying. 

Both  my  elbows  were  bruised  and  sore, 
and  my  face  suffered,  too,  from  being  dashed 
against  the  furniture  and  falling  on  the  floor. 
The  Emperor  and  Empress  were  greatly 
shocked  at  our  appearance,  and  the  Em- 
peror was  really  angry  when  he  heard  what 
had  happened.  I  felt  sick  and  giddy  for 


150      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

a  week  after ;  it  was  more  trying  than  a  sea 
voyage. 

The  Empress  had  given  me  a  present  of  a 
nice  dressing-bag.  I  had  it  with  me  in  the 
wagon,  and  saw  it  put  out  on  the  station 
at  Spala;  it,  however,  never  arrived  at  the 
house.  It  was  stolen  probably  by  one  of 
the  carters,  and  though  we  offered  rewards 
we  never  heard  of  it.  The  priest  even 
spoke  from  the  altar,  and  said  if  it  was  only 
returned  no  questions  would  be  asked,  but 
it  was  never  found.  I  was  very  sorry,  as  I 
had  many  little  things  in  it  which  I  valued 
exceedingly,  and  also  a  diary  which  I  had 
kept  concerning  the  children.  The  police 
even  instituted  a  search  in  the  neighbouring 
town,  but  all  of  no  avail. 

I  have  already  spoken  of  the  forest  in 
Spala,  and  while  we  were  there  a  little  child 
born  the  same  day  as  the  Grand  Duchess 
Marie,  and  therefore  about  two  years  and 
four  months  old,  was  lost  in  this  forest. 
She  was  the  youngest  child  of  one  of  the 
keepers,  and  was  playing  near  her  mother 
while  the  latter  was  preparing  dinner.  The 
door  was  open,  and  the  wee  thing  toddled 
out  and  wandered  away.  The  mother 


Lost  in  the  Forest.  151 

thought  she  was  playing  in  the  little  garden, 
and  was  quite  easy  about  her. 

When  the  father  came  home  to  dinner 
the  baby  could  not  be  found.  Soon  every 
man  about  the  place  was  hunting  for  the 
lost  child.  The  Emperor  stayed  at  home 
from  shooting  that  day,  and  guards,  police, 
keepers,  foresters  and  others  all  turned  out 
to  seek  for  the  lost  child.  The  terrible  fear 
was  that  she  had  been  carried  off  by  some 
wild  beast. 

A  cordon  was  drawn  round  twenty  miles 
of  the  forest,  and  searched  carefully. 
Neighbours  stayed  with  the  poor  distracted 
mother,  and  a  fire  was  kept  up  and  hot 
water  and  soup,  etc.,  were  always  ready. 
To  add  to  the  distress  heavy  snow  fell.  All 
night  and  far  into  the  next  afternoon  search 
was  continued,  but  without  result,  till  a 
soldier  who  had  been  out  all  night  and  was 
returning  saw  something  fluttering  under  a 
bush.  Drawing  near  he  found  the  little  one 
on  her  hands  and  knees  under  the  bush, 
soaked  through  and  perfectly  unconscious. 
He  quickly  carried  her  home  ;  she  was  un- 
dressed and  put  to  bed,  and  given  restora- 
tives. In  the  evening  she  was  quite  re- 


152     Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

covered  playing  about  the  cottage  home, 
and  she  very  speedily  forgot  the  whole  story. 
It  was  a  good  thing  she  was  so  young,  or  the 
effect  on  her  mind  might  have  been  disastrous. 

We  used  to  go  long  drives  about  Spala  in 
a  little  pony  carriage  with  just  the  coach- 
man. I  began  to  be  afraid  that  it  was  not 
quite  safe  as  an  accident  might  happen  to 
the  ponies,  and  none  of  us  spoke  one  word 
of  Polish,  and  it  would  have  been  impossible 
to  send  for  help  if  anything  did  occur,  so  I 
asked  that  a  Cossack  might  be  sent  after  us 
on  horseback. 

This  was  accordingly  done.  The  first  day 
after  the  change  was  made  we  were  driving 
through  a  village  when  we  saw  a  man 
running  down  a  hilly  field  towards  us.  He 
was  clad  only  in  his  night-shirt.  I  thought 
he  must  have  escaped  from  his  bed,  in 
delirium,  and  that  he  might  be  suffering 
from  smallpox  or  typhoid,  so  was  rather 
frightened.  However,  as  soon  as  he  saw 
the  Cossack  he  turned  and  ran  in  another 
direction  without  attacking  us  in  any  way. 

Next  day  he  was  found,  in  the  same  cos- 
tume, in  a  wood  at  some  distance  from  the 
village.  The  police  asked  him  who  he  was, 


Lost  in  the  Forest.  153 

He  professed  to  be  amazed  at  their  ignorance, 
and  proclaimed  himself  as  the  King  of 
Poland.  One  of  the  police  asked  him, 
"  Where  is  your  passport  ?  "  "  What !  " 
he  said  ;  "  you  are  a  policeman,  and  don't 
know  that  a  king  has  no  need  of  a  passport." 
He  proved  to  be  a  dangerous  lunatic  much 
addicted  to  stone  throwing. 

When  we  stayed  in  Poland  we  generally 
took  a  certain  number  of  local  people  into 
the  house  as  servants,  not  that  we  wanted 
them,  but  just  to  give  them  employment. 

I  never  saw  such  dirty  people  ;  they  ran 
about  the  house  in  bare  feet,  often  covered 
with  mud  from  the  roads.  Their  costumes 
consisted  of  a  striped  woollen  petticoat,  a 
black  cloth  three-quarter  length  jacket,  a 
striped  woollen  apron  tied  over  it,  a  similar 
apron  round  their  heads  or  tied  by  the  strings 
round  the  shoulders  like  a  kind  of  shawl.  They 
would  only  speak  Polish,  and  professed  not 
to  understand  when  addressed  in  Russian, 
though  I  afterwards  found,  when  it  came 
to  a  question  of  getting  money,  that  they 
not  only  understood  perfectly  all  that  was 
said,  but  could  read  and  write  Russian  with 
very  few  exceptions. 


154     S*x  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

The  Russian  who  was  paying  them 
laughed  heartily  at  my  amazement  at  hear- 
ing them  answer  him  in  Russian  and  sign 
their  names  in  the  book  for  the  money  they 
received,  but  a  golden  key  is  very  powerful 
all  the  world  over. 

Some  time  ago  in  St.  Petersburg  a  lady 
whom  I  knew  very  slightly  met  me  and  said, 
"  I  gave  that  person  you  sent  me  twelve 
roubles,  but  I  think  it  only  right  to  tell  you 
that  I  fear  she  is  an  impostor."  Greatly 
amazed  I  asked  her  what  she  meant. 

She  told  me  a  lady  had  called  to  see  her  ; 
said  she  was  a  Pole  and  a  great  friend  of 
mine  and  knew  me  intimately  in  Tsarskoe 
Selo  ;  that  I  had  helped  her  as  much  as  I 
could,  and  then  evidently  sent  her  amongst 
my  friends  and  acquaintances  to  levy  con- 
tributions on  them.  Miss  C.  offered  her 
five  roubles  (about  ten  shillings),  but  she 
said  it  would  be  useless  to  her  ;  she  must 
have  twelve  to  pay  her  rent,  or  she  and  her 
five  children  would  be  turned  out  in  the 
snowy  streets.  Had  her  case  not  been 
urgent  I  would  not  have  sent  her,  and  so 
forth.  Needless  to  say  I  knew  absolutely 
nothing  of  the  woman. 


Lost  in  the  Forest.  155 

A  couple  of  days  after  this  she  visited  the 
Winter  Palace,  but  not  me  ;  she  knew  better 
than  that.  She  visited  Madame  G.  and 
asked  her  to  give  her  a  situation  in  any  capa- 
city in  the  nurseries  under  me.  Vainly 
Madame  G.  assured  her  there  was  no  vacancy. 
"  We  could  easily  make  one,"  she  declared. 
She  then  begged  for  ten  roubles  and  refused 
to  stir  till  one  of  the  Polish  ministers  was 
called  upon.  He  sent  for  her  to  his  room, 
and  her  story  of  her  five  little  children  was  so 
sad  that  he  gave  her  twenty  roubles,  and 
promised  to  make  inquiries  and  get  her  work. 

She  was  not  known  at  the  address  given. 

She  next  was  heard  of  at  the  Grand 
Duchess  Olga  Alexandrovna's  house,  and 
went  away  with  money  and  a  good  deal  of 
work.  The  Grand  Duchess  was  greatly  in- 
terested in  her. 

She  turned  up  at  the  Grand  Duke  Serge's 
house  in  Moscow,  when  she  said  she  was 
Madame  G.,  and  had  been  called  suddenly 
to  the  south  of  Russia,  and  was  about  thirty 
roubles  short  for  her  journey.  Would  Made- 
moiselle D.  lend  it  to  her,  or  should  she  apply 
to  the  Governor  ? 

It  so  happened  that  a  personal  friend  of 


156      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

Madame  G.  was  present,  and  was  delighted 
at  the  prospect  of  seeing  her,  and  went 
downstairs.  To  her  amazement  she  was 
confronted  by  a  stranger  who  explained  that 
she  was  Madame  G.'s  servant. 

Her  mother  was  very  ill  in  the  south,  and 
she  had  got  a  telegram  saying  to  go  at  once 
if  she  wished  to  see  her  alive.  Madame  G. 
had  hurried  her  off,  but  had  not  sufficient 
money  to  pay  for  the  journey ;  she  had  told 
her  to  call  at  the  Governor's  house  and 
mademoiselle  would  give  her  the  money. 

She  had  been  in  Madame  G.'s  employ- 
ment for  ten  years,  knew  all  about  her 
rooms,  and  spoke  so  fluently  that  this 
money  was  given.  Needless  to  say,  no  one 
belonging  to  any  of  the  palaces  ever  saw 
either  the  woman  or  the  money  again. 


157 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

CONCERNING    THE    CHILDREN. 

WE  returned  to  Tsarskoe  Selo  early  in 
November,  and  stayed  there  till  after  Christ- 
mas, then  as  usual  went  to  St.  Petersburg  for 
New  Year's  Day. 

There  was  a  very  gay  season  that  year, 
many  balls  and  dinners  and  supper  parties. 
The  year  before  there  was  no  gaiety  owing 
to  the  Court  being  in  mourning  for  Queen 
Victoria. 

The  Crown  Prince  of  Germany  paid  us  a 
visit,  and  became  very  intimate  with  his 
little  cousins.  His  visit  was  spoiled,  how- 
ever, by  an  attack  of  influenza. 

The  early  part  of  the  year  passed  just  as 
usual.  The  little  Grand  Duchess  Tatiana  now 
began  to  learn  English  reading  and  writing  ; 
Olga's  education  was  of  course  much  further 
advanced.  She  had  masters  for  music  and 


158      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

Russian.  Both  children  have  a  very  marked 
talent  for  music  ;  the  Empress  and  some  of 
her  sisters  are  very  musical,  but  the  Emperor 
neither  plays  nor  sings.  He  is,  however, 
very  fond  of  music.  He  told  me  he  could 
not  learn  because  his  masters  insisted  on 
his  playing  by  note,  and  he  preferred  picking 
up  tunes  he  liked  by  ear. 

One  day  the  arithmetic  master,  a  pro- 
fessor of  algebra  from  one  of  the  universities, 
wished  Olga  to  write  something  ;  she  asked 
his  leave  to  go  in  to  the  Russian  master, 
who  was  teaching  little  Tatiana  in  the  next 
room.  He  said  she  could  go,  but  asked  her 
what  she  wanted  to  say  to  him.  She  told 
him  she  could  not  spell  "  arithmetic."  He 
told  her  how  this  difficult  word  was  written, 
and  she  exclaimed,  with  great  admiration, 
"  How  clever  you  are  !  and  how  hard  you 
must  have  studied  to  be  able,  not  only  to 
count  so  well,  but  to  spell  such  very  long 
words !  "  She  thought  me  a  marvel  of 
education,  and  confided  in  her  music  master 
that  no  one  in  the  whole  world  knew  so  much 
as  I  did ;  she  thought  I  knew  everything, 
except  music  and  Russian. 

Though  she  is  in  some  things  advanced 


, 

. -   -     - 


A  sketch  by  the  (irund  Duchess  Olga. 


[/•'at  ing  page  158. 


Concerning  the  Children.  159 

beyond  most  children  of  her  age,  in  others 
she  is  far  behind  them.  This  arises,  of  course, 
from  her  very  sheltered  life. 

On  one  occasion  the  milliner  brought 
them  new  hats,  with  which  she  was  greatly 
pleased  ;  she  told  me  she  thought  Madame  B. 
was  the  very  kindest  woman  in  the  world. 
"  She  went  all  the  way  to  Paris/'  she  said, 
"  and  brought  us  a  present  of  those  beau- 
tiful hats."  I  explained  that  it  was 
madame's  business,  and  that  the  hats  had 
been  bought,  not  given  as  a  present.  She 
looked  a  little  puzzled,  and  then  said,  "  I 
am  afraid  you  are  making  a  mistake  ;  you 
did  not  give  her  any  money,  and  I  know  she 
did  not  go  to  mama  for  it." 

Her  only  knowledge  of  shops  and  shop- 
ping was  derived  from  the  toy  and  sweet 
shops  in  Darmstadt.  One  day  she  asked 
me  why  the  Americans  spoke  English,  not 
American.  I  told  her  the  story  of  the 
Pilgrim  Fathers,  and  described  how  they 
built  houses  and  shops,  and  so  made  towns. 
She  was  exceedingly  interested  and  inquired, 
'  Where  did  they  find  the  toys  to  sell  in 
the  shops  ?  " 

I    was   reading    "  Alice    in    Wonderland " 


160      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

and  "  Through  the  Looking-Glass  "  to  them 
lately,  and  she  was  horrified  at  the  manners 
of  the  queens.  "  No  queens/'  she  said, 
"  would  be  so  rude."  When  I  read  about 
Alice's  journey  by  railway  she  was  exceed- 
ingly amused,  and  thought  it  very  funny  that 
she  had  not  a  compartment  to  herself.  I 
told  her  in  travelling  each  person  took  one 
ticket  and  occupied  just  one  seat  in  the 
train,  and  told  her  some  tickets  cost  more 
than  others,  and  the  highest-priced  tickets 
meant  a  better  place  in  the  train. 

She  listened  and  said,  "  And  when  you 
travel  can  anyone  with  the  same  kind  of 
ticket  you  have  get  into  the  same  carriage  as 
you  do  ? "  I  told  her,  "  Yes."  So  she 
said,  "  If  I  were  you,  I  should  take  a  whole 
compartment  for  myself."  I  said,  "  But 
you  forget  that  these  other  people  might 
object  to  me,  and  say,  '  I  won't  sit  beside 
that  person.'  '  "  Oh  no,"  said  she. 
"  Everyone  in  the  whole  world  would  be 
glad  to  sit  beside  you." 

Lately  she  was  reading  some  little  stories 
from  English  history ;  she  read  about  the 
English  cutting  off  the  Welsh  Prince 
Llewellyn's  head,  and  sending  it  to  London. 


A  drawing  of  the  Czarina  \>y  the  (".rand  Duchess 
Olga.     A  picture  of  unique  interest. 

[  /-'iii'inif  fiw  1 60. 


Concerning  the  Children.  161 

She  was  awfully  shocked,  and  read  the  story 
again.  Then  she  exclaimed,  "  Well,  it 
was  a  good  thing  he  was  dead  before  they 
cut  off  his  head  ;  it  would  have  hurt  him 
most  awfully  if  he  was  alive."  I  said  that 
they  were  not  always  so  kind,  and  some- 
times cut  the  heads  off  living  people,  and 
later  she  would  read  of  them  doing  such 
things.  She  said,  "  Well,  I  really  think 
people  are  much  better  now  than  they  used 
to  be.  I'm  very  glad  I  live  now  when  people 
are  so  kind." 


ii 


162 


CHERSONESE. 

ON  our  way  to  the  Crimea  in  the  autumn 
of  1902  we  passed  the  spot  where  the  Imperial 
train  was  wrecked  some  sixteen  or  seventeen 
years  ago. 

A  church  has  been  erected,  and  the 
Emperor  and  Empress,  with  the  little  Grand 
Duchess  Olga,  attended  divine  service  there. 
Many  curious  stories  of  hair-breadth  escapes 
from  death  have  been  told  me  concerning 
this  accident. 

Electricity  was  used  for  the  first  time  in 
the  Imperial  train  on  this  journey.  The 
train  got  most  uncomfortably  hot,  and  the 
Empress  thought  there  was  something  wrong 
with  the  electrical  engines,  so  she  sent  for 
the  engineer  and  asked  him  to  see  why  the 
train  was  so  hot. 

Taking   his   assistant   with   him   he   went 


^•-ari 


-  cr; 


.. 
--,  § 


^| 

•—•    , 
»**• 


-        .;-. 
'•          --JS?'^*^"''    ' 

-•^*S« 


A  sketch  l)y  the  (inind  Duchess  ()I"U. 


Chersonese.  163 

into  the  engine-room  ;  it  was  very  hot  there, 
and  both  men  soon  laid  aside  their  coats  and 
worked  in  their  shirt-sleeves. 

It  was  still  too  hot,  and  in  spite  of  the 
remonstrance  of  his  assistant,  the  engineer 
opened  the  window.  In  another  moment 
the  first  shock  of  the  explosion,  or  whatever 
wrecked  the  train  was  felt,  and  the  two 
men  were  sent  flying  out  of  the  window 
and  down  the  slope.  They  fell  about  thirty 
feet,  and  arrived  unhurt  in  the  snow. 

But  many  were  killed  and  wounded ; 
in  one  compartment  two  officers  had  put 
their  swords  in  the  netting  over  their  heads. 
The  swords  fell  out  of  the  sheathes  and 
struck  them  on  the  backs  of  their  heads, 
killing  them  outright.  The  Secretary  was 
precipitated  through  the  window,  and  falling 
on  his  head,  turned  over  and  broke  his 
neck. 

The  Imperial  family  were  at  luncheon  when 
it  occurred.  The  servant  was  just  handing 
a  dish  of  calves'  brains  to  the  Emperor 
when  suddenly  the  shock  threw  them  all 
to  the  ground.  Most  of  them,  including  the 
present  Emperor,  found  themselves  under  the 
table. 

n* 


164      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

The  Emperor  was  the  first  to  recover ; 
he  was  shocked  to  see  the  servant  lying 
apparently  dead,  his  face  covered  with  blood 
and  brains,  and  exclaimed  with  horror, 
"  Oh  !  poor  fellow  !  his  brains  are  dashed 
out."  The  supposed  corpse  sat  up  and 
began  to  speak  ;  he  had  cut  his  head  in  the 
fall  and  the  brains  were  not  his,  but  those  of 
the  calf. 

The  little  Grand  Duchess  Olga  Alex- 
androvna  was  thrown,  with  her  nurse,  through 
the  window.  They  were  both  cut  and 
bruised  and  the  nurse  sustained  internal 
injuries,  but  nothing  very  serious  ;  it  was  a 
wonderful  escape. 

In  all,  about  thirty  people  lost  their  lives, 
but  none  of  the  Imperial  family  were  seriously 
injured. 

Some  say  it  was  the  work  of  anarchists. 
If  so,  they  selected  their  spot  with  a  care 
and  ingenuity  worthy  of  a  better  cause, 
as  just  in  that  place  the  ground  dips  and 
falls  about  thirty  feet  downwards  from  the 
railway.  For  miles  on  each  side  the  track 
is  perfectly  level. 

Others  say  that  the  lines  had  spread  and 
so  the  train  was  turned  over.  Less  than  an 


Chersonese.  165 

hour  before  the  pilot  train,  carrying  most  of 
the  suite,  had  passed  over  in  perfect 
safety. 

We  lay  at  anchor  several  days  in  Sevastopol 
harbour,  and  made  several  excursions  to 
the  town  and  adjacent  country. 

A  battleship  for  the  Black  Sea  Squadron 
was  launched  while  we  were  there. 

Every  night  the  harbour  and  fleet  were 
illuminated  and  looked  most  beautiful.  The 
children  were  delighted  with  the  appearance 
of  the  ships  and  greatly  puzzled  as  to  how 
it  was  done. 

However,  we  got  to  Sevastopol  safely. 
The  town  is  situated  on  high  cliffs,  and 
looks  inaccessible  from  the  water  side  ;  it 
is  very  open  at  the  rear.  The  town  still 
bears  marks  of  the  siege.  It  is  all  paved 
with  cobble  stones  and  is  the  noisiest  place 
in  the  world  for  its  area,  I  feel  sure.  It  is 
picturesque.  We  were  there  early  in  October 
and  the  heat  was  intolerable.  No  rain  falls 
during  the  summer  months,  and  everything 
looks  dried  and  choked  with  dust. 

We  passed  through  the  famous  quarries 
where  the  English  lay  entrenched  and  so 
much  desperate  fighting  took  place.  Beyond 


1 66      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

these  quarries  are  the  graveyards  where  lie 
the  victims,  or  some  of  them,  of  the  war. 

To  understand  something  of  the  horrors 
of  war  we  should  visit,  in  cold  blood  the 
battle-fields,  and  see  the  graves  of  the 
fallen,  and  then  count  up  as  far  as  possible 
profits  and  losses.  I  feel  sure  that  the  vote 
would  be  given  against  the  waste  of  human 
lives. 

We  visited  the  English  graveyard.  The 
piece  of  ground  was  bought  from  Russia 
and  is  enclosed  with  a  stone  wall,  the 
entrance  is  handsome,  and  the  whole  place 
is  kept  in  beautiful  order.  There  is  a  resi- 
dent caretaker,  a  Russian,  who  keeps  all 
trim,  and  plants  and  tends  flowers  and 
shrubs  with  great  care.  Parts  of  the  walls 
are  festooned  with  clematis  and  plumbago, 
which  flourish  exceedingly.  In  the  spring 
the  Judas  tree  is  a  mass  of  purple  blossoms. 
Humbler  flowers,  such  as  snapdragon, 
scabius,  cornflowers,  etc.,  grow  on  the  graves. 
But  those  graves  !  The  inscriptions  on  them 
are  sad  beyond  belief. 

A  black  marble  slab  bore  the  name  of  a 
young  woman,  and  underneath  that  of  a 
three  days  old  baby,  evidently  her  son, 


The  English  Cemetery,  Sevastopol. 


f /-'tiling page  \ 66. 


Chersonese.  167 

but  nothing  more  to  tell  whose  daughter 
and  wife  she  had  been,  nor  under  what 
circumstances  she  had  come  out  to  perish 
at  twenty-one  years  of  age  with  her  infant 
son  in  a  far  land,  amid  the  strain  and  stress 
of  war. 

One  stone  covers  the  remains  of  four 
youthful  officers.  The  inscription  sets  out 
that  though  unrelated,  and  in  different 
regiments,  they  were  bound  together  by 
their  youth,  heroism,  and  love  of  country. 
They  fell  in  one  battle  and  were  buried  in 
one  grave.  Their  ages  were  from  seventeen 
to  twenty-one  years,  united  they  would 
not  have  been  eighty.  Poor  boys !  Who 
can  tell  how  many  hopes  and  fears,  ambition, 
and  love  lie  buried  with  them. 

In  one  grave  lie  the  remains  of  over  four 
hundred  men  who  fell  together. 

I  found  the  grave  of  a  hero  of  whom 
I  had  read  much  in  my  youthful  days, 
Captain  Headley  Vicars.  He  lies  with  his 
head  to  the  wall ;  his  grave  is  well  kept. 
He  was  only  twenty-seven  years  of  age. 
In  so  short  a  life  we  would  have  thought 
there  was  little  room  for  distinction,  but  his 
name  will  long  be  remembered  for  his  great 


1 68      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

piety.  "  He  rests  from  his  labours,  and 
his  works  do  follow  him."  He  was  killed 
in  the  quarries  one  night. 

On  the  other  side  of  Sevastopol  lies 
Chersonese,  the  lately  excavated  city.  It 
was  founded  in  the  fourth  century  and  was 
burned  in  the  fourteenth  by  a  horde  of  war- 
like Tartars.  Some  years  ago  something  was 
dug  up  on  the  property  of  a  local  gentleman 
which  led  him  to  believe  that  the  buried  city 
lay  under  his  property.  Excavations  were 
began  and  were  crowned  with  victory.  They 
found  the  remains  of  what  was  the  chief 
street  of  the  city.  Portions  of  the  houses 
remained  and  human  remains  lay  about  in 
all  directions.  They  gathered  these  ghastly 
things  and  buried  them.  In  many  of  the 
houses  cooking  operations  had  evidently  been 
going  on  when  sudden  death  overtook  the 
inhabitants.  There  were  many  burned  and 
charred  loaves  of  bread  taken  from  the 
ovens.  There  are  also  five  eggs  quite  intact 
which  were  found  in  one  of  the  houses. 
Fancy  eggs  more  than  five  hundred  years 
old! 

There  is  a  great  deal  of  beautiful  cut  stone 
work  ;  also  various  articles  of  pottery  and 


Chersonese.  169 

glass.  Many  of  the  specimens  look  like 
old-fashioned  silver  lustre.  Some  of  the 
articles  are  very  graceful  in  shape. 

There  is  also  gold  and  silver  jewellery 
set  with  precious  stones  and  some  precious 
stones,  chains,  brooches,  and  long,  heavy 
ear-rings,  also  bracelets.  Many  of  these  were 
set  with  turquoise  which  had  kept  their 
colour  wonderfully  well. 

The  jawbone  of  a  woman  had  each  tooth 
filed  to  a  point.  The  owner  of  it  must  have 
been  a  person  of  consideration  in  her  own 
circles,  for  though  they  found  hundreds  of 
jawbones  this  was  the  only  one  with  the 
teeth  so  decorated.  Or  perhaps  she  was 
the  first  to  adopt  a  new  fashion  in  teeth 
and  the  other  ladies  of  Chersonese  were 
waiting  to  see  what  their  lords  and  masters 
thought  of  it  before  taking  to  it.  I  should 
suppose  she  would  have  suffered  terribly  from 
toothache.  One  thing  that  struck  me  about 
the  jaw  was  its  exceeding  smallness. 

In  one  of  the  houses  papers  were  found 
containing,  amongst  other  valuable  informa- 
tion, a  plan  of  the  city,  and  of  the  church, 
which  had  been  excavated  just  before  our 
visit. 


170      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

The  church  was  surrounded  by  four  wells, 
north,  south,  east,  and  west.  The  water 
in  three  of  them  was  brackish  and  bitter, 
that  in  the  fourth  was  sweet  and  good  for 
drinking.  There  were  catacombs  under- 
neath the  church  and  the  mosaic  on  the 
floor  of  the  church  was  described  at  length. 

A  few  days  before  we  visited  the  place 
the  fourth  well  had  been  discovered.  The 
three  others  had  been  discovered  some  little 
time  before,  and  all  three  contained  brackish 
water,  but  the  fourth  was  sweet  and  quite 
good  for  use.  There  was  great  excitement 
about  it,  but  nothing  on  earth  would  induce 
me  to  drink  it,  nor  to  allow  the  children 
to  do  so  ;  I  am  not  fond  of  trying  experi- 
ments, and  should  not  like  to  drink  water 
which  had  been  shut  up  for  five  hundred 
years. 

Some  of  our  party  went  down  to  see  the 
catacombs,  and  one  of  them  kicked  over  a 
skull,  but  I  preferred  to  remain  in  the  sun- 
light of  the  upper  world.  They  found 
quantities  of  human  remains  there.  The 
stairs  leading  down  to  them  are  in  good 
repair. 

The  walls  of  the  church  stand  to  about 


Chersonese.  171 

the  height  of  four  feet,  and  have  been 
strongly  cemented  on  the  top  to  try  to  keep 
them  together.  In  one  end  of  the  church 
there  is  built  into  the  fabric  a  semi-circular 
seat  where  the  priests  used  to  sit ;  it  would 
hold  twelve  comfortably,  but  the  floor  is 
in  beautiful  repair.  The  mosaics  are  most 
extraordinary  ;  there  are  patterns  of  birds, 
chalices,  crosses,  etc.,  all  linked  into  a 
harmonious  whole  and  all  executed  with 
the  common  pebbles  from  the  sea- shore. 
They  were  rubbed  and  polished  by  the  feet 
and  knees  of  dead  and  gone  worshippers. 

The  church  is  cruciform  in  shape.  Tradi- 
tion says  it  was  built  by  Vladimir,  the  first 
Christian  ruler  of  Russia,  to  commemorate 
his  baptism  which  took  place  in  a  little  chapel 
which  had  been  incorporated  into  a  monastery 
built  on  the  top  of  a  hill  at  a  little  distance 
off. 

In  the  Winter  Palace  is  a  picture  of  the 
heads  of  Vladimir,  Peter  the  Great,  and 
Alexander  II.,  joined  together  in  the  one 
painting,  because  they  gave  the  three  great 
gifts  of  Christianity,  civilisation,  and  freedom 
to  their  country. 

The  gentleman  who  had  carried  out  these 


172      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

most  interesting  excavations  came  down  to 
see  the  Imperial  children,  and  showed  them 
all  the  Museum.  He  afterwards  congratu- 
lated me  most  earnestly ;  he  said  he  had 
never  seen  such  young  children  take  so 
intelligent  an  interest  in  antiquities,  and  he 
was  sure  /  must  often  have  talked  to  them 
on  such  subjects,  etc.  Had  he  only  known 
it  was  their  good  manners  he  also  ought 
to  have  admired,  as  the  poor  little  ones 
did  not  understand  much  of  what  they 
heard.  For  one  thing  they  were  too  young, 
and  for  another,  in  deference  to  me,  he  spoke 
in  French. 

That  year  in  the  Crimea  we  saw  a  great 
deal  of  Princess  Ellen,  now  of  Servia.  She 
was  a  very  sweet-faced  though  plain  girl, 
with  beautiful  dark  eyes,  very  quiet  and 
amiable  in  manner.  The  little  Grand 
Duchess  Olga  was  very  fond  of  her,  and 
Princess  Ellen  would  often  come  to  tea  in 
the  nurseries,  her  young  aunt,  Princess  Vera 
of  Montenegro,  and  the  young  cousins  with 
whom  she  lived  most  of  the  time.  Princess 
Ellen  was  about  seventeen  years  of  age. 
Her  mother  had  been  dead  for  many  years 
and  she  lived  chiefly  with  one  or  other  of 


Chersonese.  173 

the  aunts  in  Russia.  What  a  change  has 
come  into  her  life  !  I  often  think  of  her  with 
deep  pity  and  compassion.  She  can  never 
know  an  easy  moment,  surrounded  as  she  is 
by  the  assassins  of  the  late  king  and  queen. 
Poor,  gentle,  amiable  girl !  What  will  be  her 
fate  ? 

The  Shah  of  Persia  sent  his  conjuror  over 
to  the  Emperor  that  year,  and  he  performed 
for  the  children,  who  gave  a  large  party 
of  their  friends,  including  Princess  Ellen,  to 
see  him.  He  was  really  a  most  wonderful 
performer  and  did  many  extraordinary  tricks. 
We  had  placed  all  the  little  ones  in  the  front 
row  and  when  he  produced  a  pair  of  live 
pigeons  from  a  pudding  their  joy  knew 
no  bounds.  He  presently  produced  a  guinea- 
pig,  passed  his  hand  over  it,  and  lo  !  there 
were  two  in  his  hands.  In  a  moment  three 
little  girls  were  on  the  platform,  and  eager 
voices  cried,  "  Oh !  please,  Mr.  Conjuror, 
make  me  a  guinea-pig  for  myself."  My 
three  eldest  charges  attacked  him  with 
beseeching  eyes  and  hands.  I  verily  believe 
he  would  have  given  them  his  trained  guinea- 
pigs,  but  I  ran  and  stopped  him,  telling 
the  children  that  the  little  animals  were 


174      Si*  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

so  fond  of  their  master,  and  would  be  un- 
happy if  taken  away,  I  managed  to  get  them 
into  the  hall  again. 

The  nights  in  the  Crimea  are  usually  dark, 
and  the  roads  exceedingly  bad,  so  when  we 
went  out  to  tea  our  carriage  was  always 
preceded  by  a  common  cart,  in  which  were 
tar  barrels  and  torches  to  light  us.  The 
roads,  many  of  which  went  up  frightful 
mountains,  are  most  unsafe. 

The  season  of  1903  was  exceptionally 
brilliant ;  the  great  event  was  the  famous 
costume  ball  which  was  given  in  the  old  part 
of  the  palace,  and  at  the  request  of  the 
various  Embassies  was  repeated  in  the  new 
part. 

All  present  were  arrayed  in  the  costumes 
worn  at  the  court  of  the  Emperor  Alexis, 
father  of  Peter  the  Great.  The  Empress 
went  dressed  as  his  first  wife,  and  her  ladies- 
in-waiting  copied  their  dresses  from  pictures 
of  costumes  worn  by  the  belles  of  his 
court.  The  Empress's  dress  was  indeed 
magnificent.  It  was  in  cloth  of  gold  em- 
broidered in  pearl  beads.  The  whole  front 
of  it  was  encrusted  with  precious  stones, 
and  had  ropes  of  pearls  down  the  sides. 


Chersonese.  175 

She  wore  her  emeralds  with  it,  and  had  a 
crown  made  especially  for  the  occasion, 
decorated  with  emeralds. 

Her  dress  and  jewels  cost  upwards  of  a 
million  roubles,  more  than  a  hundred 
thousand  pounds  of  our  money.  It  was, 
however,  tremendously  heavy  and  hot.  The 
married  ladies  all  wore  the  hair  covered 
with  a  cloth  resembling  an  embroidered 
napkin  ;  the  unmarried  showed  their  hair. 
A  very  busy  man  was  the  coiffeur  who 
dressed  the  hair,  adding  to  the  ladies'  own 
tresses,  curls  or  plaits. 

Men's  dress  must  have  been  most  gorgeous 
in  those  days.  Count  Benkendorff,  the 
Mareshal  de  la  Cour,  wore  white  satin  tunic 
and  knee-breeches  trimmed  with  ermine, 
surmounted  by  a  black  velvet  cape  with  a 
fur  collar,  and  a  small  black  velvet  hat 
bound  with  ermine.  He  looked  very  well 
and  exceedingly  dignified.  A  couple  of  men 
came  as  falconers  in  doublets  and  hose  and 
wearing  yellow  top-boots  very  much  turned 
up  at  the  toes.  They  had  falcons  chained 
to  their  wrists.  Not  a  few  were  in  chain 
armour.  It  was  the  gayest  scene  I  have 
ever  seen.  They  danced  old-fashioned 


176      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

Russian  dances  which  tell  by  gestures  a 
story  of  courtship.  The  lady  first  pretends 
not  to  see  her  humble  adoring  swain,  coming 
round  by  degrees,  till  finally  they  dance 
together,  and  walk  up  and  down  the  hall, 
hand  in  hand,  he  evidently  very  pleased  of 
his  victory  over  the  coy  maiden,  and  she 
looking  very  demure  and  modest. 


177 


CHAPTER  XX. 

THE   PRIEST. 

WE  passed  the  year  much  as  usual,  only 
going  to  Moscow  for  Easter. 

On  our  return  to  Tsarskoe  Selo  the  Empress 
manifested  symptoms  of  whooping  cough. 
It  speedily  spread  to  the  nurseries  and  the 
four  children.  The  Russian  nurse  and  I 
contracted  it.  I  had  told  the  children  they 
were  to  be  most  careful  not  to  cough  on 
anyone,  or  that  person  might  take  the  disease 
from  them,  and  they  were  very  obedient. 
One  day  the  little  Grand  Duchess  Anastasie 
was  sitting  in  my  lap,  coughing  and  choking 
away,  when  the  Grand  Duchess  Marie  came 
to  her  and  putting  her  face  close  up  to  her 
said,  "  Baby,  darling,  cough  on  me." 

Greatly  amazed,  I  asked  her  what  she 
meant,  and  the  dear  child  said,  "  I  am  so 
sorry  to  see  my  dear  little  sister  so  ill,  and 

12 


178      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

I  thought  if  I  could  take  it  from  her  she 
would  be  better."  Was  it  not  touching  ? 

But  all  things  come  to  an  end,  even 
whooping  cough,  and  one  day  when  we 
were  all  well  I  went  up  to  town  to  do  some 
shopping.  I  was  talking  to  the  proprietor 
when  a  priest  came  in.  He  asked  for  what 
he  wanted  and  then  turned  to  me  and  said, 
"  I  heard  your  voice  when  I  came  in,  and  am 
sure  you  are  a  compatriot  of  mine.  You  are 
Irish,  are  you  not  ?  " 

I  answered  his  question  in  the  affirmative, 
and  he  said  he  knew,  and  asked  my  name 
and  from  what  part  I  came.  He  himself 
came  from  the  same  part,  and  knew  some  of 
my  family. 

He  told  me  that  though  he  was  an  Irish- 
man his  work  lay  in  Glasgow,  in  the  poorest 
and  worst  part  of  that  town,  down  by  the 
docks.  From  time  to  time  poor  Poles  came 
to  live  in  his  parish,  and  he  was  sometimes 
called  up  to  administer  the  sacraments  to 
them,  but  owing  to  their  mutual  inability 
to  understand  each  other,  he  could  do  little 
for  them. 

Out  of  pity  for  them,  thus  cut  off  from 
all  religious  comfort,  he  had  undertaken 


The  Priest.  179 

to  travel  to  Poland,  and  try  to  get  into 
communication  with  the  priests  there,  to 
get  them  a  supply  of  prayer-books,  cate- 
chisms, and  other  religious  books  which 
might  be  a  help  and  solace  to  them  in  a  far 
country  in  times  of  distress. 

When  I  returned  I  told  the  Empress  of 
his  care  over  his  flock.  She  begged  me  to 
thank  him  in  her  name  for  his  care  of  and 
love  for  her  poor  Polish  subjects,  should 
I  ever  see  him  again.  I  am  sorry  to  say 
I  omitted  to  ask  him  his  address.  The 
Empress's  words  might  have  encouraged  him 
in  his  task. 

Should  he  by  any  chance  see  these  words 
I  take  the  opportunity  of  giving  him  the 
Empress's  message,  and  of  telling  him  that 
I  have  so  often  thought  of  and  prayed  for 
him,  that  God  would  bless  him  in  his  work. 
He  is  a  good  man. 


i8o 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

PRINCESS    ELLA. 

THERE  was  a  great  family  gathering  in 
Darmstadt  in  September,  1903,  to  celebrate 
the  marriage  of  the  Princess  Alice  of  Batten- 
berg  (a  daughter  of  the  Empress's  sister) 
to  Prince  Andre  of  Greece  (a  nephew  of 
Queen  Alexandra). 

They  had  been  engaged  for  quite  two 
years,  but  owing  to  the  extreme  youth  of 
both  the  marriage  was  postponed.  The  four 
Hessian  sisters  were  all  in  Darmstadt,  and 
at  a  ball  given  in  their  honour  all  looked 
lovely.  Amongst  the  other  guests  were  the 
Queen  of  England,  who  is  closely  related 
to  both  bride  and  groom,  and  Princess 
Victoria. 

We  stayed  in  the  new  palace.  It  was 
built,  I  believe,  for  Princess  Alice  and  is 
a  nice,  roomy,  comfortable  residence,  with 


Princess  Ella.  181 

a  pretty  garden  and  grounds,  situated  in 
the  town  of  Darmstadt.  There  are  ponds 
in  the  garden  covered  with  lotus  blossoms; 
they  are  like  pink  water-lilies  and  the  seed 
pods  are  very  pretty  and  decorative.  I 
have  never  seen  them  in  England,  but 
they  ought  to  do  well  enough,  I  should 
think. 

My  children  were  delighted  to  see  their 
cousin  Ella  once  more.  This  dear  child 
was  then  between  eight  and  nine  years  old, 
and  very  like  her  beautiful  mother  in 
appearance.  But  the  child's  eyes  had  ever 
a  look  of  fate  in  them.  Looking  at  her  I 
used  to  wonder  what  those  wide  grey-blue 
eyes  saw,  to  bring  such  a  look  of  sadness 
to  the  childish  face. 

There  is  a  modern  picture  by  Josephine 
Swaboda,  a  Hungarian  artist,  of  a  Madonna 
and  Child,  and  the  Virgin's  eyes  might  have 
been  painted  from  that  child's,  so  full  of 
pathos  and  future  sorrow  do  they  seem. 
In  spite  of  this  look  of  intense  sadness  in 
her  eyes  the  little  Princess  herself  was  full 
of  life  and  happiness.  I  never  saw  so  sunny 
a  nature ;  I  never  saw  the  child  out  of 
temper,  nor  cross,  and  should  any  little 


182      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

dispute  arise  amongst  my  four  charges,  she 
would  settle  it  with  perfect  amiability  and 
justice,  making  whoever  was  the  most  in 
the  wrong  give  in,  and  reproving  with  great 
gentleness  the  others.  Where  Princess  Ella 
was,  no  angry  disputes  could  exist.  She  was 
so  sweet  and  just  that  the  other  children 
always  gave  in  to  her  arbitration.  Looking 
back  on  her  short  life  I  often  wonder  why 
we  did  not  see  that  she  was  quite  too  good 
for  this  world,  her  fit  companions  were  the 
angels.  She  was  a  regular  little  mother, 
and  was  never  so  happy  as  with  the  "  tiny 
cousin,"  as  she  called  Anastasie. 

It  was  a  pretty  sight  to  see  her  riding 
with  the  two  eldest  cousins  in  the  riding- 
school  ;  she  mounted  on  a  great  white  horse 
and  her  cousins  on  little  ponies.  She  rode 
wonderfully  well,  and  would  take  either  of 
the  little  ones  before  her  on  the  saddle, 
and  give  them  a  ride  round  the  school. 

The  wedding  for  which  we  came  took 
place  in  the  two  churches,  the  Lutheran 
and  the  Greek. 

The  bride  wore  crepe  de  chine  over 
liberty  satin,  trimmed  with  the  beautiful 
and  now  historic  lace  formerly  belonging  to 


Princess  Ella.  183 

her  grandmother,  Princess  Alice.  This  lace 
was  worn  by  each  of  the  Hessian  Princesses 
on  their  wedding-days.  The  Grand  Duke 
lent  it  to  his  niece  for  the  occasion. 

My  little  girls  and  their  cousins  were  all 
dressed  in  white  Honiton  lace  frocks  and 
looked  very  sweet. 

The  ceremonies  were  very  long,  that  in  the 
Russian  Church  lasting  nearly  two  hours. 
The  chief  feature  of  it  is  the  holding  of  the 
crown  over  the  heads  of  bride  and  groom, 
and  their  being  led  three  times  round  the 
church. 

One  of  the  little  ones  was  terribly  dis- 
tressed at  learning  that  cousin  Alice  would 
have  to  leave  her  mother  and  go  to  live  with 
her  husband.  "  I'll  never  marry,"  said  the 
little  maid.  "  I  couldn't  leave  my  dear 
mama."  I  told  her  that  every  one  who 
was  married  had  to  go  to  live  with  husband 
or  wife,  and  that  cousin  Andre  would  now 
live  with  cousin  Alice,  but  that  both  of  them 
would  see  their  parents  pretty  often.  She 
began  to  wonder  why  people  married,  when 
it  meant  separation,  and  I  said,  "  Very  few 
people  can  stay  always  with  their  father 
and  mother,  many  people  are  obliged  to  go 


184      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

away  and  live  with  strangers  without  being 
married  at  all." 

She  was  surprised  and  wanted  to  know  if 
I  had  ever  known  anyone  who  did.  I  told 
her  of  several  people  who  had  done  so,  whom 
she  knew,  myself  amongst  the  number,  and 
that  we  were  perfectly  happy. 

She  considered  a  little,  and  then  with  a 
beaming  smile  said,  "  But  that  was  different, 
our  mama  called  you."  There  was  a  mother 
in  it,  in  any  case,  she  thought. 

After  the  wedding  was  over  and  the 
guests  gone  we  went  out  to  Wolfsgarten, 
and  were  very  happy  there  during  the  fine 
autumn  weather.  The  Empress  bought 
bicycles  for  her  three  eldest  children  and 
they  had  grand  rides  with  their  cousin  about 
the  place.  They  hunted  the  woods  for  mush- 
rooms, of  which  many  varieties  are  found  in 
Germany,  and  had  various  excursions. 

While  we  were  in  Wolfsgarten  a  carriage 
accident  which  might  have  had  serious 
results  happened.  The  Empress  and  her 
sister  had  just  returned  from  a  drive  and 
were  preparing  to  alight  when  the  horses 
suddenly  took  fright  and  bolted.  They 
rushed  round  the  sides  of  the  narrow  court- 


Princess  Ella.  185 

yard  and  suddenly  headed  for  the  stables, 
the  door  of  which  was  shut.  The  footman, 
an  old  servant,  thinking  that  a  smash  was 
inevitable,  threw  himself  from  the  box, 
hoping  to  catch  the  horses  by  the  heads 
and  bring  them  to  a  standstill.  He  however 
fell  and  got  kicked  in  the  face  by  one  of  the 
horses.  His  wounds  were  slight,  and  he 
was  quite  recovered  in  a  few  days. 

The  Grand  Duke  of  Hesse  saw  the  occur- 
rence and  rushed  up  in  time  to  catch  one  of 
the  horses  by  the  bridle  as  they  were  heading 
into  the  shut-up  stable. 

The  Empress  and  her  sister  sat  quite  quietly 
in  the  carriage,  and  did  not  appear  at  all 
dismayed  by  the  accident.  The  Grand  Duke 
acted  with  great  pluck  and  presence  of 
mind. 

The  children  were  fortunately  all  in  the 
little  cottage  at  the  moment,  so  were  out  of 
danger.  But  they  witnessed  the  whole  thing 
from  the  windows,  and  were  terribly 
frightened. 

Our  pleasant  days  in  Wolfsgarten  drew 
to  a  close,  and  we  went  to  Skernivitsi,  in 
Poland,  taking  the  Grand  Duke  of  Hesse 
and  his  little  daughter  with  us. 


i86      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

She  always  enjoyed  life  so  much,  and 
she  ran  and  bicycled  about  the  gloomy 
old  park,  took  the  lead  in  all  the  games  and 
was  like  a  sunbeam  ;  yet  all  the  time  she 
was  stricken  with  mortal  illness,  though 
none  suspected  it. 

I  got  some  of  the  men  to  erect  a  swing 
and  a  giant's  stride  for  the  children,  and  a 
great  surprise  had  been  prepared  for  them  in 
the  shape  of  a  little  carriage  drawn  by  a 
pair  of  tame  deer,  so  their  mornings  were 
passed  pleasantly.  In  the  afternoon  we 
drove. 

Poland  is  a  very  ugly  country,  but  the 
child  was  deeply  interested  in  all  that  she 
saw.  Like  myself,  she  was  horrified  at 
seeing  the  people  kneel  in  the  road  whenever 
the  children's  carriage  approached.  As  for 
me,  I  never  got  used  to  it,  nor  ever  overcame 
the  feeling  of  horror  mixed  with  pity  that  I 
experienced  on  seeing  this  done  for  the  first 
time.  The  little  Grand  Duchess  Olga,  who 
is  very  sensitive,  used  to  look  at  them  with 
tears  in  her  eyes  and  beg  of  me  to  tell  them 
not  to  do  it. 

The  Russian  Government  had  established 
many  schools  in  Poland,  and  the  younger 


Princess  Ella.  187 

generation  is  growing  up  with  better  ideas 
on  such  subjects. 

The  holy  pictures  hung  upon  the  trees, 
the  little  shrines  at  the  cross  roads,  the 
straw  signs  showing  that  men  and  horses 
could  find  accommodation,  and  the  poor, 
dirty  people  themselves,  all  interested  the 
little  Hessian  Princess  to  a  wonderful 
extent. 

One  day  she  and  Tatiana  were  wonder- 
fully busy  and  mysterious,  running  in  and 
out  of  the  rooms,  and  exploding  into  laughter 
every  now  and  then.  In  the  evening  after 
they  were  in  bed  Tatiana  took  from  under 
her  pillow  a  little  box  which  dear  cousin 
Ella  had  prepared  for  her.  This  contained 
some  little  coloured  stones  which  they  had 
picked  out  of  the  gravel  the  day  before, 
some  bits  of  matches,  luminous  ends,  of  course, 
the  sand-paper  off  a  match-box  and  some 
tissue  paper.  This  was  a  toy  which  they 
had  prepared.  After  Tatiana  was  in  bed, 
if  she  felt  lonely  she  was  to  sit  up  in  bed, 
light  a  match  upon  the  sand-paper,  set 
fire  to  the  tissue  paper,  and  by  its  light  to 
play  with  the  stones.  Well,  of  course,  that 
could  not  be  allowed,  and  the  poor  little 


1 88      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

Princess  was  overwhelmed  when  I  explained 
to  her  that  they  might  all  have  been  burned 
in  their  beds. 

One  evening  when  the  game  was  laid 
out,  Miss  W.,  Princess  Ella's  English  nurse, 
said  to  me,  "  I  should  so  much  like  to 
show  my  baby  this,  it  would  interest  her." 
We  got  blankets  and  shawls  and  prepared 
a  warm  little  nest  for  her  in  the  window  seat, 
and  brought  her  from  her  bed,  wrapped  in 
a  dressing-gown  and  shawl,  to  see  the  wonder- 
ful sight.  She  was  quite  delighted,  and 
everyone  came  to  the  window  and  talked  to 
her  through  it  for  a  minute.  Next  morning 
the  Grand  Duchess  Olga  was  disposed  to 
grumble  at  having  been  left  in  bed  all  night, 
and  said  to  me,  "  Ella  is  only  eight  months 
older  than  I  am,  and  Miss  W.  took  her  up 
to  see  it  all,  and  you  left  me  in  bed,  like  a 
baby."  The  little  Princess  said  so  sweetly, 
"  Oh  !  dear  Olga,  don't  be  angry,  you  will 
often  see  it  again,  but  I  shall  never  again 
see  it."  She  so  often  made  use  of  this 
expression,  "  I  shall  never  see  it  again,"  that 
I  sometimes  wonder  if  she  had  any  pre- 
monition of  approaching  fate. 

The  shooting  party  went  to   Spala.     The 


A  royal  hunting  party.     The  Grand  Duke  Vladimir,  the  C/.arina,  and  the  Czar 
are  seated  together. 


Princess  Ella.  189 

whole  game  shot  during  the  two  days  was 
brought  home  earlier  than  usual  on  Saturday 
afternoon,  and  was  all  laid  out  before  the 
children's  bedtime,  so  Miss  W.  and  I  thought 
we  might  indulge  our  little  charges  with  a 
sight  of  it  all.  We  accordingly  wrapped  them 
up,  and  took  them  out  and  they  were 
delighted.  The  little  Princess  was  full  of 
life  and  fun.  I  never  remember  to  have 
seen  her  in  higher  spirits  than  she  was  on 
Saturday  evening.  She  prepared  and  carried 
out  an  innocent  little  practical  joke  on  her 
father  and  the  Empress.  She  asked  me  to 
put  her  three  eldest  cousins  in  her  bed,  and 
leave  little  Anastasie  alone  in  her  bedroom. 
"  When  auntie  Alix  and  papa  come,"  said  the 
child,  "  auntie  Alix  will  be  looking  every- 
where for  her  children,  and  papa  will  not 
know  how  he  has  got  four."  Accordingly 
it  was  done,  and  I  stepped  into  the  corridor 
to  ask  the  Empress  and  the  Grand  Duke  to 
be  very  much  surprised.  They  were,  of 
course,  exceedingly  surprised,  and  the 
Empress  pretended  to  be  much  frightened, 
to  the  child's  great  delight.  You  could  hear 
her  laughter  all  through  the  house,  as  one 
by  one  the  cousins  were  disclosed. 


i  go      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

On  Sunday  morning  Miss  W.  called  out 
to  me  that  her  little  one  had  a  sore  throat. 
It  was  then  about  half-past  seven  and  she 
had  just  awakened.  I  immediately  sent  off 
for  the  court  doctor,  and  we  took  her 
temperature,  which  was  normal,  so  we 
thought  she  might  be  dressed.  She  had 
only  began  to  make  her  toilette  when  other 
symptoms  set  in,  and  so  she  was  put  to 
bed  again.  The  doctor  came,  but  the  throat 
was  then  better.  He  said  it  was  possible 
that  the  change  of  food  might  have  disagreed 
with  her,  but  he  was  not  in  the  least  alarmed, 
and  neither  were  we.  I  kept  my  little  ones 
out  as  much  as  possible,  to  keep  the  nurseries 
quiet  for  the  ailing  little  one.  At  four 
o'clock  I  returned  from  the  drive  with  my 
little  charges.  Miss  W.  looked  up  quickly 
and  said  cheerfully,  "  Oh !  my  baby  is 
ever  so  much  better,  she  has  had  no  return 
of  the  sickness  for  a  couple  of  hours,  and  is 
sleeping  quietly."  She  then  went  into  the 
room  to  the  sick  child. 

I  went  to  the  doctor  and  congratulated 
him  on  the  improvement  in  his  little  patient. 
"  Improvement,"  he  echoed,  "  the  child  is 
dying  of  failure  of  the  heart."  I  felt  stunned 


Princess  Ella.  191 

for  a  moment,  then  utterly  incredulous,  and 
reminded  him  that  the  child  had  been  ill  for 
hours,  and  that  children  run  down  quickly 
and  recover  quite  as  rapidly.  He  adhered  to 
his  statement  that  the  child's  heart  was 
failing  from  hour  to  hour. 

I  had  to  tell  the  Empress  and  Grand 
Duke  that  the  child  was  very  ill  and  weak, 
and  her  temperature  had  risen  rapidly  till 
it  was  104°  Fahrenheit.  They  both  came 
down  to  see  her.  Neither  of  them  could  see 
that  she  was  very  ill,  nor  in  any  danger. 
The  doctor  said  the  danger  was  from  the 
heart,  the  beatings  of  it  were  hardly  per- 
ceptible. The  Grand  Duke  felt  her  pulse 
and  thought  it  strong  enough.  They  were 
in  and  out  all  through  the  evening  and  always 
thought  the  doctor  and  I  were  needlessly 
alarmed.  So  absolutely  did  they  disbelieve 
in  the  possibility  of  any  danger  to  the  child 
that  they  went  to  the  theatre  that  night. 

After  they  had  gone  the  doctor  exclaimed 
that  he  would  like  a  second  opinion.  I  got 
him  to  send  a  message  to  the  Empress, 
asking  if  we  might  send  to  Warsaw  for  some 
one.  She  sent  back  word  to  send  a  tele- 
gram and  a  special  train  for  the  best  advice 


192      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

which  could  be  got,  but  added  that  she  and 
the  child's  father  were  both  perfectly  easy 
and  happy  about  her.  We  accordingly  sent 
off  for  a  specialist.  Before  he  came  the 
Imperial  family  returned  from  the  theatre. 
The  Empress  and  the  Grand  Duke  came  in 
to  see  the  little  one,  who  roused  herself  and 
spoke  brightly  to  them.  The  Empress  told 
me  not  to  be  nervous  or  frightened  about 
the  child,  that  she  would  be  all  right  in  the 
morning.  They  went  to  bed,  and  the  child 
speedily  sank  into  a  semi-stupor.  I  told  Miss 
Wilson  I  could  not  leave  her  alone  with  her 
sufferer  but  would  stay  all  night  with 
her. 

Presently  the  two  little  Grand  Duchesses, 
Marie  and  Anastasie,  began  to  scream,  and 
I  ran  into  their  room  ;  I  found  them  both 
standing  in  their  beds  looking  terribly 
alarmed.  They  told  me  there  was  a  strange 
man  in  their  room  who  had  frightened  them. 
Now  the  rooms  were  in  a  suite,  and  they 
could  be  entered  only  from  the  dining- 
room,  or  from  the  second  bedroom,  and 
this  bedroom  in  its  turn  could  only  be 
entered  from  the  room  in  which  the  little 
Princess  lay  ill.  It  will  therefore  be  seen 


Princess  Ella.  193 

that  no  one  could  have  entered  their  room 
without  our  knowledge.  The  doctor  and 
the  little  Princess's  own  faithful  servant- 
man  had  been  in  the  dining-room  all  night. 
I  thought  the  night-light  might  have  thrown 
a  shadow  which  frightened  the  children  into 
thinking  there  was  someone  in  the  room. 
I  therefore  changed  its  position,  but  still 
the  children  were  afraid,  and  said  he  was 
hiding  over  by  the  curtain.  I  lit  a  candle, 
and  taking  little  Anastasie  in  my  arms, 
carried  her  round  the  room  to  prove  to  her 
that  there  was  absolutely  nothing  to  frighten 
her.  The  doctor  came  in  and  tried  to  soothe 
Marie,  but  it  was  useless  ;  she  would  not 
be  soothed  and  Anastasie  refused  to  re- 
turn to  bed,  so  I  took  her  in  my  arms  and 
sat  down  to  try  to  comfort  her.  She  buried 
her  face  in  my  neck  and  clung  to  me  trembling 
and  shaking.  It  was  dreadful  to  me  to  see 
her  in  such  a  fright.  The  doctor  being  obliged 
to  go  I  lighted  a  candle  and  left  it  on  a  little 
table  close  to  Marie's  bed,  and  sat  down 
near  it,  that  I  might  be  beside  both  children. 
Marie  kept  talking  about  the  dreadful  person, 
and  starting  up  in  wild  horror  every  now 
and  then.  The  doctor  came  in  and  out, 

13 


194      S™  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

and  told  me  the  strange  doctor  had  come 
and  had  given  the  little  sufferer  an  injection 
of  caffeine  ;  her  heart  seemed  stronger  and 
he  began  to  have  hope. 

When  next  Marie  began  to  talk  about  the 
mysterious  stranger  I  said,  "  A  strange 
doctor  had  come  to  help  Dr.  H.  to  make 
cousin  Ella  quite  well,  and  perhaps  he 
might  have  come  to  the  door  in  mistake, 
or  you  might  have  heard  him  speak,  but  there 
is  no  one  in  the  room  now." 

She  assured  me  that  the  stranger  was  not 
a  doctor  and  had  not  come  through  that  door 
at  all,  and  did  not  speak.  Suddenly  she 
stood  up  and  looked  at  something  which  I 
could  not  see.  "  Oh !  "  she  said,  "he  is 
gone  into  cousin  Ella's  room."  Anastasie 
sat  up  on  my  knee  and  said,  "  Oh  !  poor 
cousin  Ella  ;  poor  Princess  Elizabeth  !  " 

She  fell  asleep  almost  immediately  after, 
but  it  was  some  time  before  I  could  loosen 
the  clasped  arms,  and  little  Marie  slept  also 
quietly.  As  soon  as  possible  I  laid  her  in 
her  little  bed  and  returned  to  the  sick  room. 

The  strange  doctor  said  to  me  when  I 
entered  the  room,  "  The  little  child  is  no 
better."  I  asked  him  what  was  wrong, 


•  Princess  Ella.  195 

and  he  said,  "  Paralysis  of  the  heart."  He 
had  given  her  many  injections,  both  of 
caffeine  and  camphor,  but  to  no  avail. 

We  gave  her  stimulants  constantly,  and 
for  a  little  she  appeared  to  improve,  and  we 
hoped  we  might  save  her. 

Suddenly  she  sat  up  in  her  bed,  and 
looked  from  one  to  the  other  of  us  with 
wide,  frightened  eyes.  She  cried  out  sud- 
denly, "I'm  dying!  I'm  dying!"  Miss  W. 
coaxed  her  to  lie  down  again. 

The  child  turned  to  me,  and  said  anxiously, 
"  Send  a  telegram  to  mama."  I  promised 
it  should  be  done,  and  she  added, 
"  Immediately." 

We  sent  upstairs  and  called  the  Grand 
Duke  and  the  Empress,  who  came  down 
without  loss  of  time.  The  telegram  was 
sent  to  Coburg  to  the  mother.  Alas  !  it  was 
too  late ;  when  her  answer  was  received 
the  child  had  already  passed  away. 

We  continued  to  fan  the  feeble  spark  of 
life,  but  moment  by  moment  it  declined. 
She  began  to  talk  to  her  cousins,  and  seemed 
to  imagine  she  was  playing  with  them. 
She  asked  for  little  Anastasie,  and  I  brought 
the  wee  thing  into  the  room.  The  dying 

13* 


196      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

eyes  rested  on  her  for  a  moment,  and 
Anastasie  said,  "  Poor  cousin  Ella !  Poor 
Princess  Elizabeth ! "  I  took  the  baby  out 
of  the  room. 

Miss  W.  was  kneeling  beside  the  bed. 
The  dying  child  turned  and  kissed  her; 
another  minute  and  her  race  was  accom- 
plished ;  the  bright  young  life  was  ended. 

There  was  an  autopsy  made  on  the  body. 
A  German,  and  two  Polish  doctors,  with  the 
court  doctor,  did  what  was  necessary. 

They  found  she  had  died  of  suppressed 
typhoid,  was  twelve  days  ill,  but  it  never 
showed. 

She  had  died  in  the  children's  rooms,  and 
it  was  thought  better  to  remove  them,  in 
order  that  the  necessary  fumigation  and 
disinfecting  should  be  carried  out.  So  we 
left  for  Tsarskoe  Selo  that  same  evening. 
The  Emperor  and  Empress  intended  to  go 
to  the  funeral,  but  the  Empress  got  cold  in 
the  child's  room,  and  inflammation  of  the 
ear  set  in,  so  she  lay  in  Skernivitsi  for  six 
weeks,  and  we  were  in  Tsarskoe  Selo.  It 
was  a  sad  and  gloomy  time,  the  Empress 
lying  ill  in  Poland,  the  children  and  their 
household  in  Tsarskoe  Selo.  Even  Christmas 


Princess  Ella.  197 

was  overshadowed,  as,  though  the  Emperor 
and  Empress  had  returned,  the  latter  was 
laid  up  with  influenza,  and  the  festivities 
without  her  were  shorn  of  half  their  bright- 
ness. The  Empress  was  ill  till  towards  the 
middle  of  January.  My  children  talked 
much  of  cousin  Ella  and  how  God  had  taken 
her  spirit,  and  they  understood  that  later 
God  would  take  her  body  also  to  heaven. 

On  Christmas  morning  when  Olga  awoke, 
she  exclaimed  at  once,  "  Did  God  send  for 
cousin  Ella's  body  in  the  night  ?  "  I  felt 
startled  at  such  a  question  on  Christmas 
morning,  but  answered,  "  Oh  no,  dear, 
not  yet."  She  was  greatly  disappointed, 
and  said,  "  I  thought  He  would  have  sent 
for  her  to  keep  Christmas  with  Him." 

One  day  Marie  was  looking  at  a  picture  of 
Nydia,  the  blind  girl  of  Pompeii ;  she  asked 
me  why  she  was  blind.  I  replied  that  God 
sometimes  made  people  blind,  but  none 
knew  why.  So  she  said,  "  I  know  someone 
who  knows."  I  said,  "  No,  dear,  I  think 
not ;  no  one  knows."  "Cousin  Ella  knows," 
came  the  answer  ;  "  she  is  in  heaven,  sitting 
down  and  talking  to  God,  and  He  is  telling 
her  how  He  did  it,  and  why." 


198 


CHAPTER     XXII. 

THE     OUTBREAK    OF    WAR. 

WE  returned  to  St.  Petersburg  towards  the 
end  of  January,  and  the  Court  season  began. 
This  year  it  was  destined  to  be  broken  off 
by  the  sudden  outbreak  of  war  in  the  East. 

As  usual  about  six  large  balls  had  been 
arranged  for,  and  some  theatrical  entertain- 
ments, but  it  was  all  over  in  a  very  short 
time. 

In  the  nurseries  we  had  a  few  children's 
parties,  but  nothing  very  much. 

Little  Anastasie  was  delighted  with  the 
stir  and  bustle  of  city  life  and  deeply  inte- 
rested in  all  she  saw.  The  children  deve- 
loped a  love  for  those  little  toy  balloons 
which  are  sold  in  the  streets.  When  they 
were  very  good  I  used  to  send  out  and  get 
them  one  each.  But  Anastasie  used  some- 
times to  want  me  to  stop  the  carriage  and 


The  Outbreak  of  War.  199 

buy  them  from  the  men,  and  this,  of  course, 
could  not  be  allowed.  So  I  always  said 
simply  that  I  could  not,  without  advancing 
any  reason.  She  evidently  thought  force 
would  have  to  be  used  to  induce  him  to  part 
with  them,  for  one  day  she  saw  some  little 
children  walking  on  the  Palace  Quay,  each 
one  with  a  balloon.  She  drew  my  atten- 
tion to  them.  "  Look,  look  !  "  cried  she  ; 
"  little  children  with  balloons ;  get  out, 
take  them  from  them  and  give  them  to  me." 
I  explained  why  that  would  not  do,  so  she 
said,  "  Well,  get  out,  and  ask  them  nicely 
and  politely,  and  perhaps  they  will  give 
them  to  me." 

After  the  war  broke  out  the  children,  even 
little  Anastasie,  worked  at  frame  knitting. 
They  made  scarves  for  the  soldiers,  and 
Olga  and  Tatiana  crocheted  caps  indefati- 
gably.  The  Empress  started  working  parties, 
and  had  more  than  five  thousand  ladies 
working  for  her. 

Some  of  the  work  done  was  very  peculiar  : 
one  girl  sewed  the  sleeves  of  a  shirt  she 
was  given  to  make,  into  the  collar  band ; 
another  had  a  pair  of  surgical  trousers  to 
make,  and  gathering  them  along  the  top, 


2oo      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

put  them  into  a  twenty-inch  waist-band. 
It  was  very  funny,  but  at  the  same  time 
I  doubt  whether  the  same  class  of  girls  in 
any  other  country  would  have  done  better, 
for  all  these  people  belonged  to  the  Court 
circles. 

A  band  of  girls  came  to  the  Empress  and 
petitioned  her  to  send  them  out  to  the  war 
to  nurse  the  wounded.  Their  request  was 
refused,  but  the  Empress  said  to  them, 
"  If  you  really  wish  to  help  you  can  go  into 
the  hospitals  in  St.  Petersburg  and  work 
there,  leaving  the  trained  nurses  free  to 
go  to  the  front."  Without  exceptions  they 
all  went  and  did  what  she  suggested,  and 
most  of  them  stuck  to  it  also.  One  girl, 
the  belle  of  St.  Petersburg,  aged  nineteen, 
got  on  so  well  that  she  was  soon  placed  in 
charge  of  a  ward  for  night- work. 

One  evening  on  coming  to  the  hospital 
she  found  a  young  woman  of  the  peasant 
class  in  charge  of  her  work.  She  went  to 
see  the  matron,  who  said,  "  I  had  a  vacancy 
which  I  intended  for  my  niece.  You  took 
it,  but  as  you  are  only  taking  up  nursing  for 
a  pastime,  I  sent  for  my  niece  and  put  her 
there,  for  she  will  take  it  up  as  a  profession. 


A  comely  Russian  matron  dressed  \nj\"t£  costume. 


[Facing page  200. 


The  Outbreak  of  War.  201 

You  can  do  anything  you  like,  but  my  niece 
stays  there." 

The  girl  was  vexed  at  such  treatment,  so 
she  walked  away.  She  had  only  got  to  the 
foot  of  the  stairs  when  she  thought  of  the 
motive  which  led  her  into  the  hospital  at 
first,  and  saying  to  herself,  "  My  love  for 
my  country  is  a  very  poor  thing  if  I  cannot 
stand  a  little  snub,"  she  returned,  and  worked 
all  night  under  the  direction  of  this  ignorant 
peasant  woman,  who  had  usurped  her  place. 

When  the  doctors  found  it  out,  they  placed 
the  society  girl  in  another  and  superior  place, 
where  she  acquitted  herself  with  honour. 

It  was  very  sad  to  me  to  witness  the 
wrathful  vindictive  spirit  that  the  war  raised 
in  my  little  charges.  One  of  the  illustrated 
papers  had  a  picture  of  the  baby  children  of 
the  Crown  Prince  of  Japan.  Marie  and 
Anastasie  came  running  across  to  see  the 
picture,  and  wanted  to  know  who  those 
queer  little  children  were.  I  told  them, 
and  with  a  look  of  hatred  coming  into  her 
sweet  little  face  Marie  slapped  the  picture 
with  her  open  hand.  "  Horrid  little  people," 
said  she  ;  "  they  came  and  destroyed  our 
poor  ships  and  drowned  our  sailors."  I 


2O2      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

explained  to  her  that  it  was  not  these  little 
children,  who  were  only  babies  younger  than 
Anastasie.  So  she  said,  "  Yes  ;  those  little 
babies  did  it.  Mama  told  me  the  Japs 
were  all  only  little  people." 

Olga  was  working  very  diligently  one 
day  and  said  to  me,  "  I  hope  the  Russian 
soldiers  will  kill  all  the  Japanese;  not  leave 
even  one  alive." 

I  told  her  there  were  many  little  children 
and  women  in  Japan,  people  who  could  not 
fight,  and  asked  her  if  she  really  thought 
it  would  be  good  of  the  Russian  soldiers  to 
kill  them.  She  reflected  for  a  moment,  and 
then  asked,  "  Have  they  an  Emperor  in 
Japan  ?  "  I  answered,  "  Certainly."  She 
asked  various  other  questions  which  I  an- 
swered ;  then  she  said  slowly,  "  I  did  not 
know  that  the  Japs  were  people  like  our- 
selves. I  thought  they  were  only  like 
monkeys."  She  never  said  again  anything 
about  being  pleased  to  hear  of  the  deaths 
of  the  Japanese. 

Someone  in  speaking  to  me  of  the  four 
little  girls  lately  said  to  me,  "  Olga  has 
grace,  wit,  and  good  looks  ;  Tatiana  is  a 
regular  beauty  ;  Marie  is  so  sweet-natured, 


The  Outbreak  of  War.  203 

good  and  obliging,  no  one  could  help  loving 
her  ;  but  little  Anastasie  has  personal  charm 
beyond  any  child  I  ever  saw." 

It  was  a  good,  and  so  far  as  it  went,  a 
true  summary  of  the  children  as  they  would 
appear  to  a  stranger,  but  there  is  a  great 
deal  more  depth  and  strength  of  character 
in  all  the  children  than  appears  at  first 
sight.  I  often  wonder  what  use  they  will 
make  of  all  the  talents  God  has  entrusted 
them  with,  and  feel  assured  that  as  the  apple 
never  falls  very  far  from  the  tree,  so  with 
such  good  parents  my  dear  little  charges 
will  never  go  astray. 


204 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

THE    RUSSIAN    SOLDIERS. 

THE  Russian  soldier  looms  at  present  very 
large  on  every  horizon.  Many  a  time  have 
I  seen  Russian  soldiers  marching  along  to 
the  regimental  band,  and  when  it  stopped 
playing,  singing  choruses  as  they  marched 
with  vigour. 

The  Cossack  regiments  are  most  pic- 
turesque ;  they  are  magnificent  horsemen 
and  can  stoop  from  the  saddle  and  pick  up 
any  small  article  from  the  ground.  Person- 
ally, I  have  always  thought  them  slightly 
theatrical  in  costume,  though  their  faces 
look  martial  enough  for  anything. 

On  holidays  they  wear  long  scarlet  coats 
reaching  nearly  to  the  ankles,  and  top- 
boots  wrinkled  at  the  legs.  Their  every-day 
uniform  is  a  dark  blue  coat  lined  with  scarlet. 
They  are  armed  with  silver-mounted  swords, 


Czarina  on  horseback  in  the  uniform  of  the  Royal  Uhlan 
Bodyguard. 


The  Russian  Soldiers.  205 

often  heirlooms  in  their  family,  and  wear  a 
silver-mounted  dagger  in  their  belts,  and  they 
carry  a  rifle,  the  cartridges  being  slung  across 
the  breast  of  the  coat.  When  the  men  are 
on  horseback  the  rifle  is  carried  across  the 
saddle.  The  Cossacks  are  expert  marksmen 
and  can  hit  a  target  while  going  at  full 
gallop.  They  are  devoted  to  the  Imperial 
family. 

The  Russian  soldier  receives  board, 
lodgings,  uniform  and  washing,  and  pocket- 
money  at  the  rate  of  about  one  shilling  per 
month.  Out  of  this  he  has  to  provide  him- 
self with  threads.  He  can,  of  course,  earn 
a  little  more  by  doing  odd  jobs  for  his 
superiors,  or  acting  as  servant  in  an  officer's 
family.  I  have  frequently  seen  a  private 
taking  the  children  of  an  officer  out  for  a 
walk.  They  are  kindly  handy  creatures, 
and  always  seemed  devoted  to  the  little  ones 
in  their  charge.  The  soldier  receives  his 
pocket-money  every  week,  and  generally 
puts  by  a  little  of  it  till  he  has  saved  about 
sixpence  or  eightpence.  When  he  has  this 
magnificent  sum  in  his  possession  he  indulges 
in  his  favourite  amusement — i.e.,  he  takes  a 
street  carriage  and  goes  for  a  drive.  Very 


2o6      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

funny  and  solemn  he  looks  driving  up  and 
down  the  Nevsky. 

No  officer  can  live  on  his  pay  in  Russia. 
A  captain  receives  about  twenty  pounds  per 
annum,  which  is  not  enough  to  dress  him 
even.     I  myself  know  a  general  on  half-pay ; 
his  income  was  just  thirty  pounds  per  annum 
and  he  had  a  wife  and  daughter  to  keep.     In 
his  youth  he  had  painted  pictures  in  water- 
colours.     These  he  sold  either  in  shops  or 
to  his  friends,  but  his  pictures  had  little  or 
no    merit,    and    became    increasingly    diffi- 
cult to  dispose  of.     When  he  rose  to  be  a 
colonel  his  rank  forbade  him    to  try  to  sell 
his  paintings,   and  so  he  bought  a  camera 
and  eked  out  a  miserable  livelihood  by  photo- 
graphing all  sorts  of  scenes  and  selling  the 
pictures.     Amateur  photographers  were   rare 
then,  and  for  a  while  he  did  well.     He  used 
to  be  allowed  to  travel  with  the  Imperial 
family  and  sent  his  photographs  for    repro- 
duction   in    the    newspapers ;     but    he    was 
old,  unable  for  the  fatigue  of  such  a  life,  and 
was  obliged   to   give   it   up.     The   Emperor 
gave  him  a  flat  with  wood  and  light,  and 
there  this  brave  old  soldier  lives,  with  his 
wife  and  one  daughter,  on  his  thirty  pounds 


The  Russian  Soldiers.  207 

per  annum — a  miserable  life,  indeed  !  He 
chose  the  wrong  profession,  one  would  say, 
but  he  still  assures  me  that  there  is  no  life 
like  the  soldier's  one,  even  without  private 
means. 

I  once  came  into  conflict  with  the  mili- 
tary in  Tsarskoe  Selo.  A  room  had  been 
fitted  up  in  the  palace  as  a  church,  and  the 
Empress  and  children  attended  Mass  there 
on  Sunday  mornings.  The  Empress  told  me 
to  get  into  the  church  by  a  little  side-door, 
which  would  bring  me  just  behind  her 
chair,  as  all  her  three  children  were  in 
church,  and  Marie  Nicolaivna  was  so  tiny  a 
child  that  she  might  get  restless.  I  went  and 
found  a  soldier  mounting  guard  outside  the 
door ;  he  refused  to  let  me  pass.  I  speak 
Russian  very  badly,  and  I  tried  to  explain, 
but  all  to  no  purpose.  So  I  waited  and  he 
stood  and  looked  at  me.  Presently  one  of 
the  Grand  Dukes  came  along,  and  I  explained 
the  situation  to  him.  He  turned  to  the  sol- 
dier, and  he  told  him  to  let  me  pass.  The 
soldier  again  refused,  and  the  Grand  Duke 
told  him  who  he  was.  Of  course,  the  man 
did  not  know  him,  and  replied,  "  I  don't 
care  if  you  are  the  Emperor  himself."  The 


208      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

Grand  Duke  then  asked  him  who  had  sta- 
tioned him  there,  and  the  soldier  replied, 
"  My  corporal,  and  without  his  permission 
I  shall  not  allow  anyone  to  pass  through  this 
door." 

The  Grand  Duke  then  told  me  to  wait  for 
a  few  minutes,  and  he  went  off  and  found  the 
corporal.  The  latter,  when  he  came,  was  in 
a  terrible  rage.  He  seized  the  unfortunate 
soldier  by  the  shoulders  and  began  to  shake 
him,  but  the  Grand  Duke  interposed,  told 
the  corporal  that  the  man  was  only  doing 
his  duty  in  obeying  orders,  and  turning  to 
the  other  complimented  him  highly,  and 
said  he  was  pleased  to  find  that  the  soldiers 
were  so  obedient  and  so  faithful  to  their 
orders.  The  poor  soldier  had  tears  in  his 
eyes  when  the  Grand  Duke  had  finished 
speaking.  Orders  were  given  that  in  future 
I  should  be  allowed  to  pass  on  giving  my 
name. 

On  one  occasion  the  Grand  Duke  Paul's 
children  came  to  their  own  house  at  Tsarskoe 
Selo.  A  sentry  was  placed  in  the  garden, 
but  he  did  not  know  the  children  at  all,  and 
probably  mistook  the  hour  at  which  they 
were  expected.  He  was  dumbfounded  when 


The  Russian  Soldiers.  209 

the  children  came  running  up  and  began  to 
play  in  the  sacred  g3^mnasium  and  swing  in 
the  holy  swings.  He  approached  and  said 
in  his  sternest  tones,  "  What  are  you  doing 
there  ?  Don't  you  know  that  these  gardens 
and  all  in  them  belong  to  Demitri  and  Marie 
Paulo vitch  ?  "  Demitri  mildly  announced  his 
identity,  and  the  soldier  said  with  great 
scorn,  "  Oh  yes ;  it  is  very  easy  to  say, 
'  I  am  the  Grand  Duke  Demitri,'  but  thou 
art  a  liar,"  using  the  familiar  form  of  address. 
His  distress  was  very  great  when  he  found 
that  the  children  really  belonged  to  the 
Imperial  family. 

When  the  war  in  the  East  broke  out,  it 
was  very  sad  to  see  the  soldiers  marching 
off.  I  had  never  seen  such  a  sight  before, 
and  to  my  eyes  they  looked  so  badly  pro- 
vided for  such  a  long  journey,  but  the  trains 
provided  for  their  use  were  exceedingly 
comfortable.  The  crossing  of  Lake  Baikal 
seems  to  have  been  the  worst  part  of  the 
journey.  The  train  moving  across  it  broke 
down,  as  the  ice  was  not  strong  enough  for 
the  traffic,  so  they  went  in  sledges.  Every 
few  miles  shelters  were  erected.  The  sol- 
diers got  hot  coffee  or  soup  and  could  thaw 


2io      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

themselves  at  the  fire  before  proceeding 
another  stage.  But  even  with  these  pre- 
cautions some  were  frozen  to  death. 

The  Emperor  got  many  thousands  of 
letter-forms  printed,  and  the  children  and  I 
folded  them,  put  them  in  envelopes,  and 
stamped  them — or  many  of  them.  The  form 
of  letter  was  something  as  follows  :  "  My 

dear  parents, — I  am  at In  the  battle 

of ;    I  was  wounded  in (or)  I  am 

ill  in  hospital ;    (or)  I   am  in  good  health. 

How   are ?     Give   my   love   to ." 

The  blanks  were  to  be  filled  in  by  a  com- 
rade who  could  write,  or  by  a  nurse.  Many 
thousands  of  these  letters  were  returned  to 
cheer  the  hearts  of  the  anxious  relatives. 

I  was  given  a  good  many  presents  for  the 
Empress's  working  party.  A  gentleman  gave 
me  five  thousand  roubles  for  the  Empress ; 
a  lady  gave  me  five  hundred  pounds  of  soap, 
and  quantities  of  tow  for  the  soldiers.  There 
was  a  corridor  at  the  Winter  Palace  packed 
with  cases  full  of  comforts  for  the  soldiers. 
These  were  sent  off  every  week,  and  we  had 
the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  all  we  sent 
out  arrived  safely.  But  many  strange  stories 
were  current  as  to  the  fate  of  the  parcels 


The  Russian  Soldiers.  211 

sent  from  other  working  parties.  One  of 
the  Grand  Duchesses  was  head  of  the  Red 
Cross  Society,  and  had  an  enormous  working 
party.  She  heard  that  when  the  boxes 
reached  their  destination  they  were  half- 
filled  with  rubbish.  So  the  story  goes  that 
one  evening,  just  before  the  train  started  for 
the  East,  she  and  one  of  her  ladies  went  up 
to  the  station  and  insisted  on  examining  the 
boxes.  She  found  that  the  cases  were  half- 
filled  with  stones  and  rubbish,  with  a  layer 
of  goods  laid  over  them.  I  do  not  pretend 
to  vouch  for  the  truth  of  this  story,  but  it 
was  common  talk  in  St.  Petersburg  and  was 
never  contradicted. 

The  Empress  wished  each  soldier  to  re- 
ceive a  separate  bundle  for  Easter,  each 
containing  one  shirt,  one  handkerchief,  one 
pair  of  socks,  a  set  of  bandages  for  the  legs, 
one  woollen  cap,  one  parcel  of  tobacco  with 
cigarette  papers,  one  piece  of  soap  and  tow 
for  washing,  tea,  coffee,  sugar,  notepaper 
and  stamped  envelopes,  and  a  printed  letter- 
form. 

Nearly  everyone  in  the  palace  sent  at 
least  one  such  parcel,  with  the  name  and 
address  of  the  donor  inside,  and  many 


212      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

grateful  letters  were  received  from  the  reci- 
pients. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  war  all  nurses  sent 
to  the  front  were  thoroughly  trained,  but 
later,  when  it  became  necessary  to  send 
more  nurses,  the  authorities  took  almost 
all  who  volunteered,  provided  their  health 
was  good,  gave  them  a  short  training — just 
six  weeks  in  a  military  hospital — and  sent 
them  out.  I  saw  one  of  these  girls  when  she 
was  ready  to  go  out.  She  informed  me  that 
she  had  learned  to  read  Latin,  and  could 
prescribe  for  patients  as  well  as  nurse  them  ! 
All  this  in  six  weeks,  and  she  had  been  a 
servant  girl.  Well,  a  few  days  in  the  hos- 
pital at  the  front  would  soon  take  that  idea 
out  of  her. 


213 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 

ATTACKS    ON    THE    CZAR'S    LIFE. 

MANY  false  reports  have  been  spread  about 
attempts  on  the  Emperor's  life,  but,  never- 
theless, a  number  of  such  attempts  have 
been  made.  I  have  already  spoken  of  one 
of  them — the  attempt  to  wreck  the  Imperial 
train  when  he  was  Czarovitch.  When  he 
was  travelling  in  Japan  a  fanatic  attacked 
him  with  a  bludgeon.  Prince  George  of 
Greece,  his  cousin,  who  was  travelling  with 
him,  arrested  the  blow,  but  the  Emperor 
got  a  nasty  cut  notwithstanding,  and  was 
laid  up  for  a  few  days  afterwards.  He 
bears  the  mark  on  his  forehead  to  this  day. 
On  the  anniversary  of  that  day  there  are 
thanksgiving  services  all  through  Russia, 
and  the  day  is  kept  as  a  holiday  throughout 
Russia. 


214      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

The  first  year  we  were  in  the  Crimea  a 
diabolical  plot  against  the  Imperial  family 
was  formed,  which  was  happily  frustrated 
by  the  police.  Had  it  been  carried  out  the 
whole  Court  would  have  been  dead  and 
buried. 

The  grounds  of  Livadia  are  open  to  the 
public  while  the  Imperial  family  are  away. 
There  was  a  priest  in  Yalta  who  used  to 
like  to  stroll  about  among  the  vineyards  and 
gardens,  was  exceedingly  affable  and  kind, 
and  showed  a  great  curiosity  regarding  the 
daily  life  of  the  Emperor  and  family.  He 
asked  about  the  water  supply,  and  even 
penetrated  into  the  wood  cellar.  Before  the 
Imperial  family  go  into  any  town  a  police 
officer  is  sent  to  make  enquiries  regarding  all 
in  the  place.  On  this  occasion  all  were 
easily  identified,  with  the  exception  of  this 
priest.  The  police  officer  telegraphed  to  the 
town  from  which  he  said  he  came,  and 
received  an  answer  saying  that  all  the 
priests  belonging  to  the  town  were  in  charge 
of  their  churches.  No  one  was  absent,  nor 
was  anything  known  of  him.  One  day  when 
he  was  walking  about  Livadia  the  police 
entered  his  rooms.  They  found  many  in- 


Attacks  on  the  Czar's  Life.  215 

criminating  papers,  explosives,  and  even 
poisons.  The  explosives  were  destined  for 
the  wood  cellar,  and  the  poison  for  the 
water  supply  !  It  was  fortunate  for  us  that 
the  springs  in  Livadia  itself  were  dry  that 
year,  and  the  water  was  brought  from  a 
distance.  The  pseudo-priest  was  arrested 
and  severely  punished. 

Another  attempt  was  made  some  time 
before  I  went  to  Russia.  The  little  church 
in  Tsarskoe  Selo  had  been  altered,  and  was 
to  be  opened  formally  by  Mass  and  a  Te 
Deum.  Just  before  divine  service  began  a 
soldier  discovered  a  bomb  under  a  curtain 
just  behind  the  Emperor  and  Empress's 
places  in  church.  Had  it  exploded  hundreds 
of  persons  would  have  perished. 

The  author  of  this  horrible  crime  was  a 
young  man  of  university  education.  His 
mother  had  been  early  left  a  widow  with 
this  one  child,  a  baby  in  arms.  She  was 
almost  penniless  when  a  housemaid  in  the 
palace  heard  of  her,  was  moved  with  com- 
passion towards  her  and  her  baby  and  gave 
her  some  white  sewing  to  do.  She  interested 
others  in  the  household  in  her  sad  case,  and 
she  was  generously  paid  and  helped. 


216      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

She  was  shortly  enabled  to  start  a  work- 
room with  apprentices  and  got  on  well. 
When  first  she  began,  she  used  to  carry  her 
baby  in  her  arms  in  and  out  of  the  palaces, 
and  afterwards  as  he  got  bigger  he  used  to 
fetch  and  carry  work  for  her.  He  thus  got 
to  know  all  the  palaces  and  the  guards  let 
him  pass  without  trouble.  He  was  well 
educated  and  entered  the  university.  Here 
he  became  entangled  in  a  secret  society,  and, 
owing  to  his  intimate  knowledge  of  the 
palaces,  was  chosen  for  the  dreadful  deed. 
He  was  arrested  and  confessed,  but  would 
not  give  the  names  of  his  accomplices.  He 
was  sent  to  Siberia  for  life.  The  shock  of 
the  affair  killed  his  poor  mother.  The  day 
he  was  arrested  she  died,  as  she  said  herself, 
of  a  broken  heart  at  her  son's  baseness  and 
ingratitude. 

The  last  attempt  on  the  Emperor  was 
most  subtle.  A  parcel  posted  at  Suez  was 
sent,  marked  "  Private."  He  received  it 
while  seated  at  tea  with  the  Empress.  On 
being  opened  it  was  found  to  contain  a  piece 
of  dirty  cloth,  apparently  cut  from  an  old 
pair  of  trousers.  He  exclaimed  in  wonder 
at  receiving  such  a  curious  thing.  The 


Attacks  on  the  Czar's  Life.  217 

Empress  seized  the  tongs,  and,  taking  the 
dirty  cloth  in  them,  sent  it  from  the  room. 
It  was  examined  and  found  to  be  full  of 
plague  germs ! 

Much  has  lately  been  written  regarding  a 
constitution  for  Russia.  It  has  come,  but  so 
far  as  I  can  judge,  the  people  are  not  yet 
ready  for  it ;  not  one  in  ten  thousand  under- 
stands the  meaning  of  the  word.  A  person 
fairly  well  educated  was  talking  to  me  one 
time  about  the  want  of  liberty  in  Russia. 
I  told  her  that  she  could  have  very  little  more 
liberty  in  England  than  she  had  in  Russia, 
being  a  woman  and  obliged  to  work  for  her 
living.  I  told  her  that  the  only  liberty 
one  could  have  was  in  keeping  the  laws  and 
following  them.  She  was  greatly  amazed,  and 
asked  me  if  we  had  laws  in  England ;  I 
replied,  "  Certainly  ;  and  those  who  break 
them  speedily  find  themselves  in  prison." 
"  What/'  she  exclaimed,  "  prisons  in  free 
England !  "  She  went  on  to  ask  what  was 
forbidden  to  people  in  England,  and  was 
greatly  amazed  when  I  gave  her  a  list.  She 
told  me  she  would  not  go  any  more  to  see 
those  people  who  had  been  telling  her  she 
was  only  a  slave. 


2i 8       Si*  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

Employers  of  labour  in  Russia  are  in 
many  instances  obliged  to  hire  workers  from 
day  to  day.  The  Russian  workmen  do  not 
like  to  continue  to  work  for  a  whole  week 
right  off ;  no  matter  what  the  press  of 
business  may  be,  they  will  suddenly  an- 
nounce that  they  are  tired  and  want  a 
holiday,  and  go  off  for  two  or  three  days 
without  even  finishing  the  job  in  hand. 

The  proprietor  of  some  petroleum  wells 
in  the  Caucasus  told  me  this  story.  He  had 
been  called  upon  to  settle  a  strike,  and  came 
over  from  London  for  the  purpose.  He  saw 
the  men,  who  submitted  a  list  of  claims. 
vShorter  hours,  more  pay,  and  a  supply  of 
water  for  drinking  purposes,  being  the  chief 
things.  The  last  item  in  their  list  of  grie- 
vances was,  "  We  do  not  like  an  autocratic 
sovereign."  He  told  them  that  the  water 
supply  was  being  brought  as  quickly  as 
possible.  He  added  five  kopecks  (about 
one  penny-farthing  per  day)  to  their  wages, 
and  took  an  hour  off  the  day's  work.  "  And 
as  for  the  last  thing,  he  said,  '  It  shall  have 
my  most  earnest  consideration.'  '  It  was 
rather  puzzling  to  know  what  these  poor 
workers  expected  of  their  employer,  or  how 


Attacks  on  the  Czar's  Life.  219 

they  looked  to  be  benefited  by  a  constitu- 
tion. 

It  is  only  a  little  more  than  forty  years 
since  Alexander  II.  freed  the  slaves.  It  was 
a  noble  action,  but  it  might  have  been  more 
beneficial  had  it  been  done  in  a  different 
manner.  It  is,  of  course,  very  easy  to  be 
wise  after  the  event,  and  in  this  case  no  one 
could  foresee  the  event. 

The  poor  peasants  were  slaves  in  the 
morning  and  freed  men  in  the  evening.  All 
house  servants  were  turned  out,  field 
labourers  and  working  men  were  let  loose, 
and  committed  the  most  awful  excesses. 
Many  of  the  house  servants  returned  to  their 
masters  and  begged  to  be  taken  back  in  their 
homes.  To  this  day  in  some  households 
there  are  old  men  and  women  slaves,  not 
receiving  any  wages,  but  working  for  their 
keep,  and  receiving  clothing  from  the  hands 
of  their  masters  and  mistresses. 

In  consequence  of  the  extreme  misery  and 
famine  which  fell  on  the  country  through 
the  madness  of  these  poor  freed  slaves,  laws 
were  passed,  binding  the  peasant  to  the  land 
in  which  he  was  born.  A  peasant  could 
leave  his  district  only  after  complying  with 


22O      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

very  stringent  regulations,  and  paying  a 
sum  of  money  to  the  Starosta,  or  Elder. 
Two  years  ago  the  Emperor  proclaimed 
that  these  peasants  were  henceforth  free  to 
leave  their  villages  and  go  where  they  liked. 
I  do  not  know  that  many  availed  themselves 
of  this  permission,  however. 

Russia  has  a  kind  of  local  government, 
but  until  the  people  are  better  educated  it 
seems  to  me  that  a  constitution  cannot  bene- 
fit them  much.  They  are  not  capable  of 
guiding  themselves.  The  little  nursery  party 
in  Tsarskoe  Selo  would  be  just  as  well  able 
to  arrange  their  daily  life  without  the  aid  of 
"  grown-ups  "  as  are  the  Russians  in  general. 

What  they  do  want,  and  want  badly,  is 
clean  hands  in  the  executive. 

During  the  past  forty  years  Russia  has 
made  gigantic  strides  towards  civilisation. 
In  the  matter  of  higher  education  for 
women  she  is  well  abreast  of  the  times.  In 
St.  Petersburg  and  Moscow,  and,  in  fact,  all 
the  great  centres,  there  are  hundreds  of 
women  working  as  doctors,  chemists,  den- 
tists, and  even  finding  employment  in  banks. 
Russian  industries  are  protected  by  a  high 
tariff.  Buy  an  article  in  England  and  have 


Attacks  on  the  Czar's  Life.  221 

it  sent  to  you,  and  you  will  find  that  you  pay 
about  as  much  again  in  Custom  House 
duties  as  the  thing  cost  in  England. 

Under  this  system  Russian  industries  are 
advancing.  Linen  is  almost  as  good  as 
that  produced  in  Ireland,  but  cottons  and 
woollen  materials  fall  very  far  behind  our 
own  productions,  which  are,  however,  pro- 
hibitory in  prices  to  all  with  limited  means. 
I  have  myself  seen  ordinary  English  pique 
sold  in  Russia  for  four  and  sixpence  the 
archine  (about  three-quarters  of  a  yard), 
while  Russian  pique  can  be  had  for  about 
tenpence. 


222 


CHAPTER    XXV. 

SOCIAL    LIFE    IN    RUSSIA. 

SOCIAL  life  is  much  simpler  than  in  England. 
At  theatres  and  dinners  in  public  places, 
hotels,  restaurants,  and  so  forth,  afternoon 
dress  is  considered  de  rigueur.  No  one  would 
think  of  putting  on  a  decolletee  gown.  It 
would  be  considered  very  bad  form.  At 
theatres,  however,  both  in  the  morning  and 
evening,  hats  are  removed  as  an  act  of 
courtesy  to  those  seated  behind.  At  all 
small  parties,  whether  dinner,  dancing,  or 
music,  or  small  games,  a  light  silk,  muslin 
or  canvas  dress,  made  high,  is  worn. 

But  at  all  big  functions  full  dress  is  worn. 
At  a  Court  luncheon  a  low-necked  dress  and 
a  large  picture  hat  is  the  costume.  Men, 
however,  unless  in  uniform,  wear  evening 
dress  oftener  than  with  us.  A  music  master 


Social  Life  in  Russia.  223 

will  give  his  lessons  in  the  regulation  evening 
suit.     It  looks  very  funny. 

On  the  first  of  January  all  men  drive 
round  to  their  acquaintances  in  full  evening 
dress,  congratulate  the  ladies,  and  are  sup- 
posed to  drink  to  their  health.  For  this 
they  put  on  evening  dress.  They  start 
about  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  so  it 
looks  rather  peculiar.  Poor  fellows !  they 
come  home  in  the  evening  generally  worn 
out,  very  hungry,  and  with  a  raging  headache, 
born  of  all  the  sips  of  vodki  taken  during 
the  day. 

Nine  o'clock  in  the  evening  is  a  favourite 
time  for  paying  visits.  At  this  hour  the 
Russians  drink  tea  ;  the  tray  is  brought  in 
and  glasses  of  tea  are  dispensed  without 
cream  or  milk,  but  very  sweet,  and  with 
slices  of  lemon  floating  in  each  glass,  or,  if 
preferred,  a  spoonful  of  jam  is  stirred  into 
the  glass.  They  looked  upon  me  as  a 
heathen,  because  I  don't  take  sugar  in  tea. 

A  sister  of  mine  was  visiting  on  a  farm- 
house in  the  north  of  Ireland  once,  and  said 
to  the  hostess,  "  Please,  no  sugar  for  me." 
She  looked  surprised,  but  answered  encourag- 
ingly, "  Oh,  Mrs.  H.,  we  have  plenty 


224      S*x  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

of  sugar  in  the  house."  Well,  that  did  not 
happen  to  me  in  Russia,  but  much  surprise 
was  expressed  at  my  want  of  taste.  Rus- 
sians will  sometimes  hold  a  lump  of  sugar  in 
their  fingers  and  nibble  a  bit  of  it  before 
taking  a  mouthful  of  tea.  They  say  it 
tastes  better  so. 

The  tea-table  is  always  well  furnished 
with  cakes  of  various  kinds,  some  of  them 
particularly  nasty.  I  used  to  think  they 
were  flavoured  with  hair-oil.  Caraway  and 
poppy  seeds  are  all  largely  used  in  con- 
fectionery ;  fruit  and  bonbons  are  also  served 
with  tea. 

The  tea  equipage  is  generally  very  dainty  ; 
the  glasses  are  put  into  silver  stands  with 
handles  to  enable  them  to  be  lifted  with  ease ; 
pretty  gilt  or  enamelled  silver  is  used,  and 
the  napery  is  of  the  finest,  most  dainty 
description,  for  Russians  love  fine  linen. 
Every  Russian  has  his  or  her  own  store  of 
linen,  just  as  he  has  his  own  underclothing, 
and  I  have  heard  much  wonder  expressed 
at  the  bare  idea  of  sleeping  on  the  sheets 
and  pillow  covers  of  other  people.  Even  a 
servant  brings  her  own  house-linen  with  her. 

When   a   layette   is   prepared   sheets   and 


Social  Life  in  Russia.  225 

towels,  etc.,  are  always  included,  and  kept 
separate  for  each  child's  use,  and  it  is  counted 
very  careless  to  put  the  sheets  of  one  child 
in  the  bed  of  another.  In  going  on  a  visit 
anywhere,  you  take  your  own  sheets,  etc., 
with  you,  and  send  them  to  the  wash  with 
your  own  linen.  English  people,  however, 
are  excused  from  this,  on  account  of  their 
incomprehensible  habit  of  using  family  linen. 
But  if  a  Russian  governess  or  visitor's  linen 
is  not  up  to  the  mark,  she  receives  very 
scornful  looks  from  the  servants. 

In  the  trains,  for  a  night  journey  one  can 
either  bring  sheets,  blankets  and  a  pillow, 
or  hire  from  the  conductor  for  one  rouble — 
about  two  shillings.  But  soap  or  towels  are 
never  provided. 

The  following  story  is  told  of  an  English- 
man travelling  for  the  first  time  in  Russia. 
He  met  a  Russian  who  spoke  all  languages, 
and  confided  to  him  that  he  had  brought  no 
towel,  and  was  tired  of  wiping  his  face  on 
his  sheet  or  pocket-handkerchief,  and  he 
could  not  succeed  in  making  the  conductor 
understand  what  he  wanted.  The  Russian 
told  him  he  had  only  to  say  "  Politiensa," 
and  his  wants  would  be  supplied.  The 

15 


226      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

Englishman  learned  the  word,  and  presently 
called  for  the  conductor,  and,  as  he  thought, 
asked  for  a  towel. 

The  conductor  gesticulated  and  bowed, 
but  brought  no  towel,  so  the  Englishman 
gave  it  up.  Later  on  he  met  his  Russian 
friend,  and  told  him  that  though  he  had  said 
what  he  had  been  told  he  had  got  no  towel. 
"  Stupid  man  !  "  said  he  ;  "  can't  even 
understand  his  own  language."  The  Russian 
called  the  conductor  and  spoke  to  him.  He 
turned  to  the  Englishman  and  asked  him 
what  he  had  said.  The  latter  replied,  "  Pala- 
tinski,  of  course."  Judge  of  his  surprise 
when  he  heard  that  he  had  actually  asked 
the  poor  conductor  if  he  spoke  Latin.  The 
latter  had  replied  that  he  only  spoke  Russian 
and  German,  and  excused  himself  for  not 
knowing  Latin  by  saying  it  was  so  seldom 
called  for. 

Duelling  is  still  a  recognised  institution 
in  the  land  of  the  Tsar.  One  of  the  officers 
about  the  Court  is  said  to  have  fought 
three,  and  killed  his  man  each  time.  I 
always  felt  a  horror  of  the  man,  but  I  believe, 
notwithstanding  his  bloody  record,  he  was 
quite  harmless  and  even  good-natured. 


Social  Life  in  Russia.  227 

On  one  occasion  a  young  officer  of  a  Cossack 
regiment  took  two  girls  from  a  cafe  chantant 
to  spend  a  day  in  the  country.  In  the 
evening  all  three,  being  heated  with  wine, 
made  their  way  to  the  station  ;  the  women 
entered  the  train  and  the  prince  stood  on 
the  platform  talking  to  a  friend.  The 
women  had  seated  themselves  opposite  a 
gentleman  who  had  a  terrible  scar  on  his 
face,  the  result  of  a  sword-cut  which  had 
laid  open  his  visage  from  temple  to  chin. 

The  two  women  began  to  make  impertinent 
and  offensive  remarks  about  the  man  and 
his  appearance.  They  were  French  and 
spoke  in  their  own  language.  He  at  last 
replied  to  them  in  French  :  '  Ladies,  when 
first  you  got  into  the  train  I  thought  you 
were  French  ladies  ;  I  now  see  I  was  mis- 
taken. French  ladies  are  too  delicate  in 
sentiment,  and  too  polite  to  mock  at  a  scar 
won  in  honourable  warfare.  I  now  perceive 
that  you  are  nothing  but  a  pair  of  peasants." 
He  got  up  and  went  to  another  part  of  the 
train,  leaving  the  women  speechless  under  his 
well-merited  rebuke. 

When  the  prince  got  into  the  train  the 
women  told  him  that  they  had  been  insulted, 


228      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

described  the  appearance  of  the  gentleman, 
and  urged  him  to  challenge  him  for  a  duel. 
The  prince  accordingly  sought  him  out  and 
gave  him  his  card,  saying,  "  You  have 
insulted  mes  dames  and  must  fight  a  duel." 

Now  the  other  was  a  retired  military  man, 
who  had  fought  for  the  Boers  against  Eng- 
land. He  had  also  been  through  the  Turkish 
war,  and  had  seventeen  wounds  on  his 
body.  After  the  war  in  South  Africa  was 
over  he  had  returned  to  Russia  and  taken 
up  journalism  as  a  profession.  He  had  no 
wish  to  fight  a  duel,  and  replied  to  the  effect 
that  he  had  seen  rivers  of  blood  flow,  had 
the  scars  of  seventeen  wounds  on  his  body, 
and  no  one,  therefore,  could  call  his  courage 
into  question.  He  would  not  fight,  specially 
for  two  such  women  as  those.  He  was  a 
journalist,  and  only  desired  peace. 

The  prince  returned  to  his  companions. 
When  the  train  arrived  in  St.  Petersburg 
the  journalist  was  the  last  person  to  alight, 
but  his  enemies  were  waiting  outside  the 
station  for  him.  As  he  approached,  one 
woman  pushed  her  companion  against  him 
violently.  He  caught  her  by  the  arms 
and  steadied  her  or  she  would  have  fallen, 


Social  Life  in  Russia.  229 

and  he  then  tried  to  pass  on.  But  the 
prince  blocked  his  way.  Forcing  his  card 
on  him  he  demanded  his  address  and  satis- 
faction. In  the  course  of  the  evening  two 
friends  of  the  prince  called  upon  the  journalist. 
The  latter  again  refused  to  fight,  but  said 
that  the  officer  owed  him  an  apology.  This, 
of  course,  was  refused.  Now  an  officer 
cannot  fight  a  duel  without  permission  from 
his  general,  and  at  the  moment  the  latter 
was  in  Krasnoe  Selo  in  attendance  on  the 
Emperor,  who  was  there  for  manoeuvres. 

When  he  returned  he  found  himself  unable 
to  come  to  any  decision,  and  the  matter  was 
referred  to  the  Emperor,  who  gave  per- 
mission for  the  duel  to  take  place.  The 
place  of  meeting  was  just  outside  Peterhoff, 
where  we  were  residing  at  the  moment. 
Lots  were  drawn,  and  the  prince  had  the 
first  shot.  He  aimed  for  the  scar  in  the 
journalist's  face  but  missed  him  by  a  hair's 
breadth.  The  journalist,  wishing  to  wound 
his  antagonist  slightly,  aimed  low,  intending 
to  inflict  a  flesh  wound  in  the  thigh  ;  but  the 
pistol  carried  too  high,  and  the  bullet  entered 
the  abdomen,  inflicting  a  mortal  wound. 
The  journalist,  full  of  horror,  threw  down 


230      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

his  pistol,  and  going  up  to  his  foe  asked  his 
forgiveness,  saying,  he  had  no  intention  of 
inflicting  so  severe  a  punishment.  The  dying 
man  refused  to  shake  hands,  and  cursed  him 
bitterly.  Shortly  afterwards  he  expired. 

His  younger  brother  took  up  the  quarrel, 
and  sent  a  challenge  to  the  journalist ;  but 
there  was  absolutely  no  ground  for  a  second 
duel,  and  permission  was  refused. 

During  the  winter  the  journalist  was  picked 
up  in  an  unconscious  state  in  the  streets  of 
St.  Petersburg,  and  was  carried  to  the  hos- 
pital. He  was  terribly  injured.  He  rallied 
a  little,  and  declared  that  the  younger 
brother  of  the  man  he  had  shot  had  entered 
his  flat  after  midnight,  accompanied  by 
three  friends,  and  had  thrown  him  from  the 
window  in  revenge.  He  died  a  couple  of 
days  after.  The  prince  and  his  friends  on 
their  part  denied  the  truth  of  the  whole 
story,  and  said  that  the  journalist  had  had 
a  card-party  in  his  rooms  on  the  evening  in 
question  ;  a  dispute  had  arisen,  and  he  was 
thrown  from  the  window  by  his  own  friends. 
But  no  evidence  on  the  point  was  forth- 
coming, and  the  journalist's  own  servant 
knew  nothing  about  the  card-party.  The 


Social  Life  in  Russia.  231 

unfortunate  man's  rooms  showed  signs  of  a 
terrible  struggle.  No  inquiry  into  the  truth 
of  either  story  was  made  ;  the  authorities 
accepted  the  living  man's  story,  and  the 
matter  ended. 

Another  very  terrible  thing  happened 
while  I  was  in  Russia.  A  German  oculist 
settled  in  St.  Petersburg.  He  was  clever 
and  skilful,  and  speedily  got  a  great  prac- 
tice. He  was  a  bachelor,  and  his  sister  kept 
house  for  him.  At  the  time  of  my  story 
both  were  middle-aged,  and  enjoyed  a  very 
good  reputation. 

He  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  rather  fast 
officer,  who  had  a  pretty  wife.  This  ac- 
quaintance soon  ripened  into  a  close  inti- 
macy, and  visits  were  frequently  exchanged 
between  the  two  families.  One  morning 
during  the  doctor's  reception  hours  the 
officer  came  to  his  house  and  asked  to  see 
him  for  a  moment.  The  servant,  knowing 
him  to  be  an  intimate  friend  of  his  master, 
arranged  for  him  to  slip  in  as  soon  as  the 
patient  with  whom  the  oculist  was  at  that 
moment  engaged  should  be  free.  At  the 
moment  the  waiting-room  was  full  of  patients 
who  were  speedily  startled  by  the  report 


232      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

of  a  revolver,  quickly  followed  by  another. 
The  servant  rushed  into  the  room  and  found 
his  master  lying  wounded  on  the  floor. 

The  officer,  saying  calmly,  "  I  have  shot 
your  master,  you  will  find  me  in  my  own 
house  should  you  want  me,"  went  out.  The 
police  were  speedily  on  the  spot.  Inquiries 
were  set  on  foot  and  the  officer  was  placed 
under  arrest  in  his  own  house. 

Though  dying,  the  oculist  was  quite  con- 
scious, and  told  the  following  story  : 

When  the  officer  came  into  the  room  he  at 
once  accused  his  friend  of  being  on  too 
intimate  terms  with  his  wife  ;  but,  he  added, 
that  if  the  oculist  would  promise  to  marry 
her,  and  give  him,  the  aggrieved  husband, 
a  considerable  sum  of  money,  he  would  allow 
his  wife  to  divorce  him,  and  offer  no  obstacle, 
in  order  that  she  might  be  free  to  marry  the 
man  of  her  choice.  His  wife's  good  name 
and  happiness  were  the  most  cherished 
objects  of  his  life.  The  oculist  refused  to 
accept  these  terms.  The  officer  then  sug- 
gested the  money  without  the  wife,  who 
was,  he  said,  so  dear  to  him  that  he  would 
forgive  her  anything. 

The  oculist  declared  that  he  was  absolutely 


Social  Life  in  Russia.  233 

innocent  of  the  offence,  and  proposed  an 
enquiry. 

On  this,  without  a  word  of  warning,  the 
officer  drew  a  revolver  from  his  pocket  and 
shot  the  other  across  the  table.  He  was 
wounded  in  the  thigh  and  fell  to  the  ground  ; 
the  officer  just  fired  a  second  shot  into  the 
prostrate  body  when  the  servant  came  into 
the  room. 

The  officer's  story  was  that  he  challenged 
the  oculist  to  a  duel  which  was  refused,  and 
he  then  fired  at  him,  that  being  duelling 
etiquette  in  Russia. 

The  oculist  lingered  for  two  or  three  days, 
but  maintained  to  the  last  hour  that  he  was 
innocent  of  this  charge.  The  St.  Peters- 
burg priests  took  up  the  matter  warmly,  and 
said  that  the  officer  was  justified  in  shooting 
down  the  man  who  had  desecrated  his  home, 
so  there  was  no  enquiry  into  the  matter  and 
the  officer  was  set  at  liberty. 

But  the  authorities  thought  the  air  of  St. 
Petersburg  not  good  for  the  pretty  wife,  and 
she  went  down  to  a  country  town,  a  good 
long  way  from  St.  Petersburg.  Here  the 
couple  speedily  made  acquaintance  with  a 
very  wealthy  young  man,  on  whom  they 


234      Si*  Yews  at  the  Russian  Court. 

showered  invitations,  and  who  was  soon 
established  as  "  1'ami  de  la  maison."  In 
fact,  so  confiding  was  the  officer  that  he 
would  invite  him  to  the  house  to  amuse  his 
wife  while  he  was  on  duty,  or  at  his  club. 
Madame  was  very  fascinating.  She  liked 
the  things  on  sale  in  the  local  shops  so  much  ; 
their  young  friend  knew  the  town  so  well, 
could  he  not  escort  her  and  show  her 
shops  ?  Of  course,  he  did  so.  Madame 
was  unlucky  about  her  purses ;  she  lost 
quite  a  number,  and  the  young  man  gener- 
ally settled  up  with  a  cheque. 

One  evening  when  the  officer  and  his 
wife  were  both  at  home  and  alone  the  police 
paid  them  a  visit  and  requested  them  to 
move  on,  which  they  accordingly  did,  to  the 
great  joy  of  all  the  decent  inhabitants  of 
that  town.,  They  tried  the  same  game  in 
another  town  to  which  they  went,  but  were 
pulled  up  in  time  by  the  police. 

Throughout  Russia  the  flat  system  pre- 
vails. Some  houses  contain  forty  or  fifty 
sets  of  apartments,  and  you  can  get  a  flat 
of  any  size  you  want,  from  two  rooms  to 
fifteen  or  sixteen.  The  authorities  put  a 
man  called  a  "  dvornik  "  into  each  house  : 


Social  Life  in  Russia.  235 

he  is  a  sort  of  inferior  policeman.  He  keeps 
the  road  and  footpath  in  front  of  the  house 
swept  and  clean — and  the  streets  of  St.  Peters- 
burg are  beautifully  kept — knows  all  who 
pass  in  and  out  of  the  house,  tells  the 
police  should  anyone  come  into  the  house 
on  a  visit,  and  is  responsible  for  the  safety 
of  all  in  the  house. 

Should  a  burglary  or  a  murder  be  com- 
mitted, he  is  punished,  generally  by  being 
sent  to  the  country  in  disgrace.  I  must  say 
they  do  their  duty  very  well,  and  one  seldom 
hears  of  burglaries  or  murders  being  com- 
mitted in  St.  Petersburg,  and  such  crimes  as 
one  hears  of  in  London,  such  as  mysterious 
disappearances,  murders  in  common  lodging- 
houses,  girls  decoyed  into  low  houses,  etc., 
are  never  heard  of  in  Russia. 

During  the  six  years  I  lived  in  the  Russian 
capital  there  was  one  double  murder  com- 
mitted. In  broad  daylight,  in  one  of  the 
very  best  parts  of  the  town  quite  close  to 
the  Winter  Palace,  an  old  lady  and  her 
servant  were  murdered  and  the  flat  was 
rifled.  The  authors  of  the  terrible  crime 
were  never  discovered. 


236 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

POST     OFFICE     VAGARIES     IN     RUSSIA. 

PUBLIC  offices  in  Russia  seem  to  me  to  be 
in  sore  need  of  reform. 

In  a  little  country  post  office  which  in 
this  country  would  be  managed  and  well 
looked  after  by  a  postmistress,  one  finds 
three  great  men  in  charge.  Of  course  they 
have  a  great  deal  more  to  do  there  than  here 
and  give  themselves  a  lot  of  perfectly  un- 
necessary trouble  in  reading  the  letters  en- 
trusted to  the  care  of  the  government. 

I  write  a  very  illegible  hand  and  used  to 
pity  them  trying  to  decipher  my  writing, 
hampered  in  addition  with  a  foreign  language. 
Last  autumn  a  lady  belonging  to  the  Court 
wrote  a  letter  to  the  Empress  while  she  was 
in  Poland.  She  sealed  it  and  even  wrote 
her  name  outside  the  envelope,  which  is 
supposed  to  ensure  the  letter  going  through 
without  examination. 


Post  Office  Vagaries  in  Russia.       237 

A  couple  of  days  afterwards  the  letter 
was  returned  to  her  from  the  post  office 
with  an  intimation  that  it  had  opened  of 
itself  in  the  post  office.  The  seal  was 
intact  but  had  been  detached  probably  by 
means  of  a  knife.  It  was,  of  course,  the 
merest  curiosity  which  led  them  to  open 
this  letter.  As  a  general  rule  the  police 
open  one  letter  in  every  fifteen  passing 
through  the  post  office.  Should  they  injure 
the  envelope  they  at  once  put  the  letter  into 
the  fire  and  it  is  done  with.  In  times  of 
national  danger  a  much  larger  proportion 
of  letters  are  opened  and  read.  Again, 
judging  by  stories  one  hears,  the  postmen 
themselves  cannot  be  depended  upon.  A 
friend  of  mine  told  me  that  on  one  occasion 
she  saw  a  postman  open  the  stove  in  an 
entrance  hall  and  calmly  burn  a  number  of 
letters.  I  wanted  to  know  why  she  did 
not  report  him  and  she  said  it  could  not 
have  done  any  good.  Till  the  people  have 
a  keener  sense  of  right  and  wrong  she  seemed 
to  think  a  mere  report  would  do  no  good, 
but  I  think  I  should  have  tried  it  all  the 
same. 

This  year  an  old  friend  of  mine  sent  me 


238       Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

through  the  post  some  Irish  crotchet ;  she 
enclosed  a  note  in  her  parcel.  This  note 
was  delivered  to  me  minus  stamp  or  post- 
mark. I  sent  down  at  once  to  enquire 
about  the  lace  but  was  told  that  the  letter 
had  come  as  I  received  it,  straight  from 
County  Cork  without  post-mark  or  stamp  ; 
but  as  I  did  not  seem  to  be  satisfied  they 
would  not  make  any  charge  for  it !  The 
envelope  was  not  marked  in  any  way.  Some- 
body in  the  post  office  evidently  admired 
the  lace  and  kept  it.  Gloves  or  any  small 
thing  sent  through  post  were  never  delivered 
to  me  unless  the  sender  took  the  precaution 
of  registering  the  letter. 

On  an  average  I  lost  about  twenty  letters 
in  the  year.  I  was  told  that  all  letters  coming 
from  the  palace  were  opened,  so  I  found  it 
better  if  possible  to  get  mine  posted  in  a 
pillar  box  in  the  street.  In  the  country, 
of  course,  I  could  not  do  this,  but  used 
sometimes  to  send  my  letters  to  St.  Peters- 
burg to  be  posted.  On  one  occasion  I 
registered  a  letter  to  an  address  in  Corn- 
wall ;  it  took  me  at  least  a  week  to  get  that 
letter  posted,  as  the  officials  in  the  country 
post  office  were  absolutely  certain  that 


Post  Office  Vagaries  in  Russia.       239 

Cornwall  was  in  America  and  would  not  take 
the  letter  because  I  had  written  England  on 
it.  At  last  I  sent  the  letter  to  St.  Petersburg 
and  told  the  messenger  simply  to  hand  it 
in  and  say  nothing  about  its  destination 
unless  asked,  when  he  could  ask  the  official 
to  write  London  across  it  and  register  it  as 
far  as  London  and  then  let  it  take  its 
chance. 

The  letter  was  refused ;  so  then  my 
messenger  made  my  proposal  to  have  it 
registered  to  London  and  said  I  was  certain 
that  Cornwall  was  in  England  ;  the  official 
thereupon  took  the  letter  and  registered 
it  but  he  said  if  it  went  astray  he  would 
not  be  accountable  for  it.  They  had  pro- 
tested against  it  but  the  sender  would  not 
heed.  Some  ten  or  twelve  days  afterwards 
they  sent  me  word  that  the  letter  had  been 
received.  The  postal  guide  must  have  been 
wrong  in  locating  Cornwall  in  America. 

On  one  occasion  a  London  firm  sent  a 
parcel  by  post  to  the  Grand  Duchesses ; 
it  was  not  received.  I  had  all  enquiries 
made  but  it  was  lost.  I  accordingly  told 
the  Empress  and  she  made  enquiries  about 
it. 


240      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

An  official  was  sent  up  to  the  palace.  He 
saw  the  Empress,  who  sent  him  to  me.  He 
began  by  assuring  me  that  he  was  an  English- 
man and  giving  me  his  solemn  word  of 
honour  which  I  might  believe,  as  an  English- 
man never  lies.  He  then  proceeded  to  tell 
me  that  I  had  made  an  enemy  in  the  Berlin 
post  office  and  that  this  monster  of  iniquity 
stole  my  letters  in  Berlin.  Now  it  so  happens 
that  I  never  stayed  even  a  night  in  Berlin 
and  have  no  acquaintance  whatsoever  with 
the  town  or  people.  I  told  him  so,  where- 
upon he  offered  to  swear  to  me  that  the 
letters  were  not  lost  in  Russia ;  as  he  was  an 
Englishman  I  might  believe  him ! 

I  noticed  that  many  English  people 
used  to  bribe  officials  in  the  post  office 
to  deliver  their  letters  without  letting  the 
police  see  them,  or  at  least  they  said  they  did 
and  would  talk  quite  openly  about  its  being 
impossible  to  get  on  in  Russia  without 
bribing.  Somehow  in  Russia  it  is  looked 
on  in  quite  a  different  light  from  what 
it  is  in  England,  and  I  used  to  be  laughed 
at  because  I  always  maintained  that  morality 
was  the  same  for  all  countries,  that  if  it  was 
wrong  to  try  to  buy  justice  and  right  in  one 


Post  Office  Vagaries  in  Russia.       241 

country  it  surely  was  equally  wrong  in 
another.  But  the  fact  of  its  being  punish- 
able in  one  country  and  not  in  another 
made  no  difference  in  such  a  matter  as 
that. 

I  told  this  particular  Englishman  that  he 
might  read  my  letters,  if  he  chose,  so  long 
as  he  gave  them  to  me  afterwards,  there 
never  was  anything  in  them  but  family  news 
of  no  interest  to  anyone  but  myself.  He 
was  horrified  at  this  suggestion  of  mine  and 
exclaimed,  "  God  forbid  and  the  Emperor 
has  forbidden  that  we  should  touch  your 
letters,"  so  I  said,  "  God  may  forbid  and 
the  Emperor  has  forbidden  you  to  touch 
my  letters,  still  they  are  lost  all  the  same," 
and  went  on  to  play  a  game  of  bluff  with 
him  by  telling  him  that  most  of  my  letters 
came  from  England  and  Ireland  and  were 
therefore  under  the  International  Postal  Law, 
and  that  I  very  much  doubted  if  he  had  any 
legal  right  to  touch  them  at  all.  He  told 
me  I  had  opened  a  very  interesting  legal 
point  which  would  have  his  consideration 
and  took  his  leave  ;  but  the  letters  continued 
to  be  lost  all  the  same.  If  I  was  really  anxious 
about  a  letter  I  used  to  post  it  open  or  only 

16 


242       Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

just  closed,  which  I  found  was  a  very  good 
plan. 

On  one  occasion  I  ordered  a  copy  of 
Morfill's  History  of  Russia,  as  I  felt  interested 
in  it.  Judge  of  my  amazement  at  hearing 
that  it  was  forbidden  to  circulate  it  in 
Russia.  I  however  asked  special  permission 
for  it  and  so  got  it  after  a  little  delay  without 
further  trouble.  The  censor's  office  keeps 
books  sometimes  for  months.  A  friend  of 
mine  sent  me  a  book  he  had  written  as  a 
Christmas  present ;  it  was  Easter  before  I 
got  it  and  then  it  had  evidently  been  given 
to  a  child  to  play  with,  for  it  was  scribbled 
over  in  red  and  blue  pencil. 

State  censorship  of  the  press  is  a  very 
good  thing  and  in  my  opinion  the  English 
press  would  benefit  greatly  by  it  as  would 
also  the  American,  but  one  can  have  too 
much  of  a  good  thing.  It  is  not  the  law 
to  which  one  objects  but  the  methods  in 
which  it  is  carried  out.  This  is  equally 
true  of  both  the  free  press  and  the  censored 
one. 

Some  time  ago  in  St.  Petersburg  the 
censor  discovered  that  post-cards  were  sold 
openly  in  the  capital  with  such  wicked 


Post  Office  Vagaries  in  Russia.       243 

devices  as  pictures  of  St.  Isaac's  Cathedral, 
the  Nevski  Perspective,  or  the  Winter  Palace, 
but  without  the  magic  words  "  Censor's 
Permit "  in  the  corner  of  each  card ;  he 
immediately  prohibited  the  sale  of  these 
awful  cards  and  for  about  ten  days  none 
were  permitted  to  be  sold.  Now  it  so 
happened  that  I  wanted  some  of  these  cards 
and  went  into  a  shop  to  get  them.  The 
proprietor  politely  told  me  he  could  not 
sell  them.  Greatly  amazed,  I  exclaimed, 
"  But  why !  they  are  in  your  window." 
He  was  exceedingly  angry  and  told  me  of 
the  censor's  prohibition.  I  thought,  naturally 
enough,  that  there  was  some  suspicion  attach- 
ing to  the  man  himself  and  left  the  shop.  I 
went  to  another,  only  to  meet  with  the  same 
story,  and  to  a  third,  where  they  offered  to 
sell  them  to  me  sub  rosd  and  begged  me  to 
send  them  under  cover  as  the  sale  had  been 
prohibited.  I  however  refused  to  buy  under 
these  circumstances  and  never  again  entered 
the  shop.  The  strange  part  of  this  censor- 
ship is  that  with  it  frightfully  indecent 
pictures  and  cards  are  openly  shown  in  the 
windows  and  shops,  and  one  has  to  be  care- 
ful as  to  what  theatre  one  goes  to,  for  some 

16* 


244      Si*  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

of  the  plays  are  absolutely  repulsive,  violating 
every  canon  of  good  taste,  decency  and 
modesty. 

But  with  a  little  time  these  things  will 
all  right  themselves ;  when  education  has 
spread  more  amongst  the  people  and  they 
are  more  elevated  they  will  see  for  them- 
selves that  these  things  do  not  become 
a  great  Christian  people,  and  they  will  be 
relegated  to  oblivion  with  many  other  things 
which  all  lovers  of  the  country  must 
deplore. 


245 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 

THE    TRUE    STORY    OF    KISHINEFF.  ' 

MUCH  has  been  written  concerning  the  out- 
rages at  Kishineff  which  is  absolutely  untrue. 
It  is  far  from  my  intention  to  deny  the  facts 
of  the  matter. 

Atrocities  which  could  not  have  been 
surpassed  by  the  Spanish  Inquisition  were 
committed  on  a  defenceless  and  unarmed 
population,  but  neither  the  Emperor  nor 
the  Russian  government  was  to  blame  in 
the  matter. 

The  first  intimation  I  had  of  it  was  from 
the  London  Times.  I  read  the  accounts 
with  deep  horror  and  asked  some  Russian 
friends  of  mine  if  it  could  possibly  be  true, 
but  no  one  seemed  to  know  anything  about 
it,  though  one  of  them  searched  the  Russian 
papers.  She  could  find  no  mention  of  it  in 


246      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

them.  A  few  days  later  accounts  of  the 
horrible  outrage  were  published  in  the  Russian 
papers ;  an  inquiry  was  made  and  those 
upon  whom  guilt  rested  were  severely 
punished. 

Two  Russians  in  the  town  of  Kishineff 
were  guardians  to  their  orphan  nephew, 
a  lad  of  about  fourteen  years  of  age.  He 
was  rich,  his  father  having  made  a  fortune ;  his 
uncles,  who  were  his  heirs  at  law,  having  got 
into  financial  difficulties,  hit  upon  the  abomin- 
able project  of  murdering  the  poor  boy  and 
annexing  his  wealth.  The  lad  returned 
from  school  one  day  and  was  never  seen 
alive  again.  It  was  just  at  the  time  of  the 
Jewish  Passover  and  the  uncles  informed 
the  police  of  the  disappearance  of  the 
nephew,  adding  their  belief  that  the  Jews 
had  taken  his  blood  for  ritual  purposes,  for 
that  old  myth  is  largely  believed  in  Russia. 

The  police  instituted  a  search  in  the  Jewish 
quarters  for  the  unfortunate  lad  and  with 
the  assistance  of  the  uncles  soon  found 
the  body,  which  had  been  quite  drained 
of  blood,  in  the  garden  of  a  Jew. 

The  Christian  population  was  much  in- 
flamed against  the  unhappy  Jews,  who  were, 


The  True  Story  of  Kishineff.         247 

of  course,  unable  to  give  proofs  of  their 
absolute  innocency  in  the  matter. 

Jew  baiting  is  a  form  of  sport  only  too 
common  in  Russia ;  so  a  terrible  vengenace 
was  planned;  word  was  sent  to  all  the  Jews 
in  the  neighbourhood  that  as  they  had 
for  their  Passover  Feast  taken  the  blood  of 
a  Christian  so  would  the  Christians  pour 
out  to  their  God  on  Easter  the  blood  of  the 
Jews.  The  rich  Jews  in  the  town  went 
to  the  governor  and  besought  his  protection. 
They  paid  for  it  too  with  all  their  possessions. 

On  Easter  Sunday  morning  a  guard  was 
placed  outside  their  houses  and  they  were 
warned  not  to  stir  out,  but  no  help  or  pro- 
tection was  given  to  the  poor  Jews  whose 
houses  were  entered ;  their  children  were 
thrown  from  the  windows  and  dashed  to 
pieces  against  the  walls  and  pavements. 
One  young  man  was  nailed  to  a  rude  cross 
in  the  streets  and  had  all  his  limbs  sawn 
off ;  the  horrors  of  hell  were  let  loose  upon 
the  most  unhappy  people.  The  very  worst 
barbarities  committed  in  the  Middle  Ages 
were  exceeded. 

It  was,  of  course,  the  duty  of  the  governor 
to  call  out  the  military  and  protect  the  help- 


248      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

less,  but  he  had  been  paid  in  advance,  and 
wished  to  earn  his  money ;  therefore  he 
deliberately  cut  off  all  telephone  com- 
munication, shut  himself  up  in  his  study, 
and  would  give  no  answer  to  anyone. 

The  military  authorities  went  several  times 
to  his  house  for  permission  to  suppress  the 
rioting,  but  could  not  get  any  answer.  Like 
the  deaf  adder  he  would  not  hear,  neither 
did  he  send  any  report  of  the  matter  to  St. 
Petersburg  and  the  Russians  absolutely 
believed  that  they  were  fulfilling  the 
Emperor's  desires.  In  the  evening  the 
Russians  returned  to  their  houses  satisfied 
with  themselves  and  their  work  ;  their  horror 
may  be  imagined  when  they  found  they 
were  to  be  brought  to  justice  for  their  terrible 
doings,  for  they  imagined  they  had  been 
doing  the  will  of  God  and  the  Emperor's 
orders. 

The  enquiry  into  the  outrages  lasted  a 
long  time  ;  the  police  searched  the  house 
of  the  uncles  and  found  in  a  cellar  plenty 
of  evidence  to  prove  that  the  poor  boy  had 
met  his  death  in  his  own  home  ;  the  very 
clothes  which  he  had  worn  at  school  on  the 
last  day  of  his  life,  the  weapon  with  which 


The  True  Story  of  Kishineff.         249 

the  murder  had  been  committed,  and  many 
more  mute  witnesses  being  found.  The 
wretched  uncles  were  justly  punished  by 
being  sent  to  Siberia  for  life.  The  ring- 
leaders in  the  attack  on  the  Jews  were 
sentenced  to  varying  terms  of  imprisonment, 
from  two  years  to  a  few  months,  according 
to  their  degree  of  guilt,  but  a  terrible  punish- 
ment was  reserved  for  the  most  guilty  of 
all,  the  governor.  All  his  property  was 
confiscated  and  he  was  deprived  of  his  pass- 
port and  sent  to  live  in  a  village  ;  in  other 
words,  he  was  outlawed  and  he  is,  in  the 
eyes  of  the  law,  dead.  He  can  neither 
write  nor  receive  letters  and  to  support  his 
miserable  life  he  was  obliged  to  take  service 
in  a  peasant's  family  and  be  the  general 
drudge.  If  they  wish,  they  may  beat,  kick, 
starve  him  and  he  has  no  redress. 

This  man  has  no  land  and  no  rights 
from  anyone.  His  master  will  give  him 
food,  a  sheep-skin  coat  for  winter  and  a 
corner  of  the  floor  to  sleep  on  at  night ; 
he  may  not  go  beyond  about  a  mile  from 
the  village  in  any  direction.  Yet  he  was  a 
gentleman  used  to  a  soft,  luxurious  life. 
Russia  can  inflict  no  worse  punishment  than 


250      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

this,  but  it  is  very  seldom  given  ;  I  have 
heard  of  men  condemned  to  this  sentence 
of  outlawry  running  away  and  hiding  in  the 
woods  and  becoming  "  wild  men "  who 
stick  at  no  crime ;  of  course,  wanting  a 
passport  they  cannot  enter  any  other  village 
or  town  and  so  they  will  sometimes  murder 
a  whole  family  in  order  to  steal  this  precious 
document  which  must  often  be  utterly  useless 
to  them,  as  a  description  of  the  personal 
appearance  of  the  owner  is  written  in  each 
Russian  passport. 


251 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

THE  RUSSIAN  CLERGY. 

THE  Greek  Church,  which  is  established  in 
Russia,  is  supposed  to  hold  a  place  between 
the  Protestant  and  Roman  Catholic  churches  ; 
it  is,  however,  in  ritual  and  doctrine,  more  like 
the  latter  than  the  former,  though  orthodox 
Russians  as  a  rule  prefer  Protestants  to 
Roman  Catholics.  The  Greek  Church  denies 
the  supremacy  of  the  Pope,  its  clergy  are 
married,  Mass  is  sung  in  the  vulgar  tongue, 
and  it  does  not  hold  the  doctrine  of  the 
Immaculate  conception. 

Many  of  the  priests  are  excellent  men, 
working  hard  for  the  good  of  their  people 
and  leading  self-sacrificing  lives,  true  orna- 
ments to  the  Christian  profession  ;  on  the 
other  hand,  many  of  them  seem  to  be  devoid 
of  any  sense  of  morality.  In  many  respects 
their  lives  are  very  sad,  they  are  so  cut  off 


252      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

from  all  others.  They  are  simply  peasants 
and  to  the  level  of  peasants  their  younger 
sons  often  sink,  consequently  they  are  not 
received  into  any  society.  Their  education, 
training  and  priestly  office  lift  them  above 
the  level  of  the  mere  tiller  of  the  fields  who 
looks  upon  the  priests  with  a  sort  of  super- 
stitious awe  on  Sundays,  but  on  whose  life 
they  exercise  no  influence  whatever.  The 
eldest  son,  or  priest,  is  set  apart  for  the 
priesthood  and  no  military  service  is  required 
of  him,  but  the  younger  sons  frequently 
serve  as  common  soldiers.  The  groom  who 
led  little  Anastasie  Nicolaivna's  donkey  was 
the  son  of  a  priest  and  no  one  considered 
it  at  all  an  extraordinary  thing  that  he 
should  serve  in  the  stables  ;  in  fact,  he  was 
considered  as  being  very  lucky  to  have  got 
such  a  good  position  and  so  pleasant  a  life. 
He  had  served  as  a  private  in  the  army  and 
could  read  and  write. 

A  priest  is  obliged  to  marry  before  he 
receives  orders  ;  his  wife  is  in  many  cases 
chosen  for  him  by  the  bishop  ;  should  she 
die  he  has  to  give  up  his  charge,  take  leave 
of  his  children,  and  go  into  a  monastery, 
a  second  marriage  being  absolutely  forbidden 


The  Russian  Clergy.  253 

to  him  and  a  priest  without  a  wife  is  not 
allowed  to  live  in  a  parish.  From  the 
monasteries  promotion  comes.  What  the 
life  is  there  I  cannot  tell  but  it  must  be 
frightfully  monotonous.  The  brothers  do 
a  great  deal  of  wood-carving,  some  of  which 
is  very  beautiful.  In  all  the  monasteries 
one  can  buy  for  a  few  pence  little  wooden 
spoons  carved  by  the  brothers ;  these  have 
all  got  "  A  sign  of  the  blessing "  on  the 
top.  The  right  hand  is  extended,  the  first 
and  second  fingers  joined  to  the  thumb 
and  the  other  two  fingers  turned  in.  I 
have  several  of  these  spoons  in  my  possession  ; 
I  always  thought  it  such  a  pity  to  shut  up 
men  of  education,  who  might  labour  for  the 
welfare  of  their  fellow-creatures  in  a 
monastery,  to  eat  out  their  lives  carving 
wooden  spoons,  but  the  Russian  Church 
moves  very  slowly.  While  I  was  in  Russia 
a  conference  was  held  to  discuss  the  desira- 
bility of  altering  the  calendar,  which  is 
thirteen  days  behind  the  rest  of  the  world, 
but  the  Church  would  not  hear  of  it,  alleging 
that  a  Christian  feast,  such  as  Easter,  should 
not  be  kept  on  the  same  day  as  the  Jewish 
Passover  ! 


254      Si*  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

Priests'  daughters  are  educated  at  excellent 
institutes  set  aside  for  themselves. 

On  the  completion  of  the  education  of  a 
priest's  daughter,  should  she  not  be  already 
engaged,  her  photograph  is  taken  and  sent 
to  all  the  theological  schools  to  be  inserted 
in  the  public  album.  On  the  back  are  written 
full  particulars  as  to  her  height,  age,  parentage, 
fortune,  number  of  brothers  and  sisters,  etc. 
Should  a  man  not  have  formed  any  previous 
engagement,  on  the  passing  of  his  final 
examination  he  goes  to  the  album  and  looks 
up  two  or  three  suitable  candidates  for 
matrimonial  bliss,  writes  to  the  fathers  of 
the  chosen  few  and  an  interview  is  arranged 
for.  When  suited,  he  writes  to  the  fathers 
of  the  others,  and  tells  them  on  whom  his 
choice  has  fallen  and  no  one  is  any  the 
worse.  Should  his  wife's  father  die,  he  takes 
his  mother-in-law  to  live  with  him. 

While  I  was  in  St.  Petersburg  a  priest 
died  and  left  four  unmarried  daughters ; 
in  accordance  with  the  usual  custom  the 
bishop  appointed  to  the  vacant  charge  a 
young  man  whose  affections  were  free,  and 
it  was  supposed  that  he  would  marry  one 
of  the  daughters  and  provide  for  their 


The  Russian  Clergy.  255 

mother.  One  after  the  other  of  these  brave 
girls  refused  his  offer,  not  that  they  had 
anything  against  the  man,  but  they  said  they 
wished  to  have  some  choice  in  the  matter 
and  did  not  wish  to  marry  where  they  did 
not  love. 

They  left  their  father's  house  and  taking 
their  mother  with  them  they  started  a 
school  where  they  are  doing  well.  I  sym- 
pathised deeply  with  them  and  spoke  to  a 
Russian  lady  of  their  courage  in  thus  defying 
convention  and  starting  out  in  the  world 
for  themselves.  She,  however,  took  quite 
another  view  of  the  matter  and  said,  "  What 
do  they  suppose  they  have  been  brought  up 
and  educated  for  ;  it  was  their  plain  duty 
to  marry  priests  and  I  have  no  patience 
with  people  who  will  not  perform  their 
duty.  Where  are  priests  to  look  for  wives 
if  priests'  daughters  refuse  to  marry 
them  ?  " 

If  a  priest  has  daughters  and  no  son,  he 
has  to  educate  a  young  man  for  the  sacred 
office  in  order  to  marry  him  to  one  of  his 
daughters  ;  should  he  have  no  children  at 
all  he  is  obliged  to  adopt  a  son. 

The   Empress   is   doing   all   in    her   power 


256      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

to  raise  the  social  standing  of  the  priests  and 
to  provide  them  with  a  settled  income. 

When  a  Russian  family  visits  Holy  Moscow 
it  is  considered  correct  to  hire  a  priest  to 
say  matins,  and  accordingly  a  servant-man 
is  sent  to  the  market-place  to  hire.  The 
priests  stand  there,  each  one  with  a  little  roll 
of  bread  in  his  hand.  The  servant  chooses 
his  man,  and  then  begins  the  horrible  bartering 
without  which  it  seems  impossible  to  conclude 
any  bargain.  The  priest  will  ask  perhaps 
five  or  six  roubles ;  the  servant  will  en- 
deavour to  get  him  cheaper.  Should  the 
priest  be  getting  the  worst  of  the  encounter 
he  will  sometimes  say  something  like  this  : 
"  If  you  won't  give  me  my  price  I'll  take 
a  bite  of  this  bread,  and  then  it  will  all 
be  done,"  for  a  priest  cannot  celebrate  mass 
unless  he  is  fasting.  Should  the  servant 
be  new  to  the  business  he  will  probably 
give  in  and  conclude  the  bargain  ;  but  if 
he  is  wide  awake  he  will  answer  something 
like  this  :  "  For  that  matter  you  may  eat 
it  all.  There  are  plenty  more  priests  in  the 
market."  But  suppose  the  bargain  con- 
cluded !  On  the  conclusion  of  matins  the 
priest  holds  up  the  cross  and  all  the  wor- 


The  Russian  Clergy.  257 

shippers  press  forward  to  kiss  it  and  the 
hand  of  the  priest,  who  is  then  sent  to  the 
kitchen  to  breakfast  with  the  servants. 

It  is  related  of  the  late  Emperor  that 
being  in  the  country  for  military  manoeuvres 
he  attended  divine  service  in  the  village 
church.  On  the  conclusion  of  the  Mass  he 
advanced  to  kiss  the  cross  and  the  priest's 
hand.  The  latter  withdrew  his  hand,  saying, 
"It  is  not  meet  that  your  Majesty  should 
kiss  the  hand  of  his  humble  servant."  The 
Emperor  reproved  him  in  these  words : 
"  Thou  fool,  it  is  not  thy  hand  I  kiss  but 
the  holy  office  thou  boldest.  I  do  it  not 
for  thee  but  for  my  people." 

Holy  pictures  and  relics  hold  a  great 
place  in  the  Russian  Church.  In  the  cathe- 
dral in  the  Winter  Palace  is  a  dried  human 
hand.  It  is  very  old.  Tradition  says  that 
it  is  the  hand  of  John  the  Baptist ! 

Holy  pictures  may  be  either  painted  or 
carved,  but  are  always  hand-work,  though 
they  may  only  cost  a  few  kopecks  each. 
The  Russian  never  speaks  of  buying  or 
selling  these  pictures.  They  are  always  ex- 
changed. Exchanging  for  money  is  not  the 
same  thing  as  buying,  they  say. 

17 


258       Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

Some  pictures  are  used  something  like 
charms.  There  is  one  of  three  saints,  Iger, 
Saumon,  and  Ivava.  With  this  image 
engaged  couples  are  usually  blessed  by  their 
parents  before  the  marriage.  If  an  un- 
engaged person  is  given  the  image,  he  or  she 
is  certain,  so  the  fable  goes,  of  being  married 
before  the  year  is  over.  I  gave  a  copy  of 
it  to  a  girl  three  years  ago  but  it  had  no 
effect ;  she  is  still  living  in  single  blessedness. 
I  told  her  she  must  have  failed  in  faith. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  moved  by  some  feeling 
of  shyness,  she  shut  up  the  picture  in  a  box 
and  never  put  it  in  her  little  shrine  at  all. 
She  carried  it  about  with  her  from  place 
to  place,  but  I  really  do  not  think  she  gave 
it  very  fair  play.  She  was  a  little  ashamed 
of  having  locked  it  up,  and  never  could  make 
out  whether  I  had  given  it  to  her  in  jest  or 
seriousness. 

One  of  the  Russian  nurses  got  engaged 
while  I  was  there.  When  we  were  last  in 
Moscow  she  came  to  me  and  told  me  that 
she  had  dreamt  that  an  angel  came  to  her 
and  said,  "If  you  wish  to  be  happy  in 
your  marriage  you  must  get  an  icon  of  Iger, 
Saumon,  and  Ivava."  She  told  the  angel 


The  Russian  Clergy.  259 

that  she  had  numbers  of  holy  pictures,  would 
not  one  of  the  Madonna  do  instead  ?  " 

But  the  angel  was  of  a  different  opinion 
and  said  nothing  would  do  but  what  he 
had  pointed  out. 

Of  course,  I  told  her  that  if  her  married 
happiness  depended  upon  that,  to  go  and 
get  as  many  as  ever  she  wished ;  so  she 
dressed  and  went. 

Shortly  afterwards  the  Empress  came  into 
the  nurseries  and  asked  for  her.  I  told  her 
she  had  gone  out  to  buy  something  she 
required.  So  the  Empress  asked  me  to 
send  the  girl  to  her  as  soon  as  she  returned. 
She  then  showed  me  a  copy  of  this  picture, 
saying,  "It  is  supposed  to  bring  luck 
and  happiness  to  brides,  I  saw  it  in  a  church 
I  was  visiting  and  brought  it  home  for  her." 
It  was  a  curious  coincidence. 

In  1903  a  new  saint  was  added  to  the 
Russian  calendar — St.  Seraphim.  He  was 
a  monk,  and  was  remarkable  for  the  great 
gentleness  and  piety  of  his  character.  He 
lived  in  a  monastery  situated  in  a  forest. 
He  is  generally  represented  with  a  great 
bear  which  he  had  tamed,  and  which  followed 
him  about  like  a  dog.  He  was  deformed. 

17* 


260      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

Wandering  in  the  forest  one  day  he  was 
attacked  and  beaten  by  a  ruffian ;  his  back 
was  broken,  but  he  recovered  and  lived  for 
some  years.  Many  extraordinary  stories  are 
related  of  him.  He  only  died  about  seventy- 
five  years  ago,  but  owing  to  his  extraordinary 
piety,  he  was  canonized  far  sooner  than  is 
usual. 

The  Emperor  and  Empress  went  to  the 
ceremony.  They  were  lodged  in  the  convent 
there,  their  suite  being  accommodated  either 
in  the  stables,  where  beds  were  made  up, 
or  in  tents.  But  for  the  most  part  the 
pilgrims,  numbering  about  one  and  a  half 
millions,  slept  in  the  forest  or  in  the  grounds 
of  the  monastery  with  the  sky  for  a  canopy. 
The  monks  were  not  at  all  prepared  for  such 
numbers,  and  there  was  not  nearly  sufficient 
bread,  or  food  of  any  kind,  to  go  round. 
Many  apparently  authentic  cures  are  re- 
corded ;  the  blind  received  their  sight,  the 
lame  walked,  but  I  cannot  say  if  the  cures 
were  permanent. 

Talking  of  them  with  a  Russian  doctor, 
he  said  he  had  no  doubt  whatever  of  the 
truth  of  certain  of  these  cures,  but  he 
believed  they  were  all  of  the  nervous  system  ; 


The  Russian  Clergy.  261 

but  then  nervous  diseases  are  the  most 
difficult  of  all  to  cure.  One  cure  is  reported 
of  a  young  girl  suffering  from  typhoid  whose 
people  had  taken  a  cottage  in  the  neighbour- 
hood for  the  summer.  One  morning  her 
mother  was  horrified  to  find  her  bed  empty. 
Search  was  immediately  made  all  over  the 
house  and  the  garden,  but  she  could  not  be 
found.  Suddenly  she  walked  into  the  house, 
quite  well,  and  asked  for  breakfast.  She 
told  the  following  story  : — 

In  the  night  a  little  old  man  appeared 
to  her,  and  told  her  to  get  up  and  go  and  bathe 
in  a  spring  of  water,  several  miles  distant 
from  the  house.  She  protested,  saying  she 
had  been  in  bed  for  several  weeks  and  had 
not  strength  enough  to  walk  downstairs, 
but  the  apparition  said,  "  Only  obey, 
strength  will  be  given  to  thee,  only  have 
faith."  She  got  up,  walked  to  the  spring 
and  bathed,  and  was  quite  restored,  nor 
had  she  a  relapse. 

On  these  remarkable  circumstances  being 
made  known,  it  was  resolved  to  canonize 
St.  Seraphim,  and  I  am  sure  that  he  merited 
the  distinction,  owing  to  the  beauty  of  his 
life  and  character. 


262      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

The  Bible  tells  us  that  if  we  have  faith 
all  things  are  possible  to  us,  so  I  believe  that 
these  miracles  were  worked  in  answer  to 
faith.  Many  people  walked  from  Archangel 
on  the  White  Sea  down  to  the  monastery, 
which  is  situated  in  the  south  of  Russia, 
starting,  like  the  apostles  of  old,  without 
provision  for  the  journey.  Many  people 
were  walking  for  six  months. 

Two  brothers  set  out  carrying  their 
paralysed  sister  in  a  stretcher  between  them 
and  made  their  way  on  foot  to  the  shrine. 
Their  journey  took  them  over  five  months. 
They  begged  their  way ;  underwent  in- 
credible hardships.  Starting  on  their  long, 
toilsome  journey  in  March,  when  every  place 
was  frozen  hard,  they  travelled  on  through 
snow,  under  the  burning  sun,  still  carrying 
their  helpless  sister,  sustained  by  the  hope 
of  a  blessing  for  her.  Their  faith  was  re- 
warded. Their  sister  was  restored.  Charit- 
able people  helped  them  to  return  home  by 
train.  They  had  the  three  greatest  things 
in  the  world,  faith,  hope  and  charity,  and 
they  were  rewarded. 


263 


CHAPTER     XXIX. 

MORE    ABOUT    THE    CHILDREN. 

THE  Russian  peasants  live  principally  on 
rye.  When  this  crop  fails  ruin  and  starva- 
tion stare  them  in  the  face. 

The  following  story  was  told  me  of  the 
effects  of  eating  rye  in  a  bad  condition. 
The  scenes  described  took  place  in  a  village 
not  far  from  Moscow.  The  poorest  people 
ground  the  unripe,  rotten  grain,  and  made 
it  into  a  travesty  of  the  black  bread  which 
they  usually  use.  This  bread  was  rankly 
intoxicating  and  the  poor  creatures  who 
ate  it  were  absolutely  insane  for  a  while. 
They  danced  naked  through  the  villages, 
attacked  each  other  with  knives,  screaming 
like  savages  the  while.  Even  little  children 
were  made  drunk.  Many  died,  falling  down 
suddenly  in  the  midst  of  their  frenzy.  Gener- 
ally speaking,  after  about  two  hours  of  this 
excitement  the  poor  creatures  dropped  off 


264      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

into  a  sudden  and  profound  sleep,  from  which 
they  woke  sober  and  in  their  right  minds. 
Many,  alas  !  awoke  no  more. 

The  Russian  peasants  dislike  loneliness 
very  much,  and  always  live  in  villages ; 
sometimes  their  cabins  may  be  forty  miles 
from  their  farms.  During  the  summer  they 
generally  camp  out,  shutting  up  the  cabin, 
the  peasant,  his  wife  and  family  travelling 
in  a  rough  cart,  traverse  the  distance  be- 
tween house  and  farm. 

They  generally  plough  with  a  woman  or 
two  and  a  cow,  and  the  man  drives  this 
extraordinary  team.  I  often  said  if  I  were 
those  women  I  should  strike.  My  nephew 
says  it  is  unscriptural,  for  it  is  forbidden 
to  yoke  an  ox  and  an  ass  !  I  told  a  peasant 
woman  once  that  I  considered  it  awful,  and 
she  laughed  and  said,  "  Eta  nichivo " 
"  It  is  no  matter." 

In  harvest  time  they  work  far  into  the 
night,  for  in  the  north  of  Russia  daylight 
lingers  long.  One  can  see  to  read  up  to 
about  ten  o'clock  at  night  without  artificial 
light,  and  they  work  even  by  moonlight 
cutting  grass,  binding  sheaves,  etc.  The 
harvest  is  carried  home  and  stored,  the 


More  About  the  Children.  265 

cattle  are  driven  back  to  the  village,  and  the 
long  sad  winter  begins.  The  summer  spent 
out  of  doors  is  certainly  good  for  the  chil- 
dren, who  run  about  sturdy,  brown,  little, 
half-naked  savages. 

One  of  the  under-nurses  in  the  Imperial 
household  had  a  friend  who  lived  in  a  village 
with  her  mother ;  the  friend  did  the  Russian 
drawn  thread  work  most  beautifully.  I  saw 
some  of  it  one  day,  and  sent  her  an  order. 
I  showed  it  to  several  people  and  got  her 
orders.  I  even  sent  a  good  deal  of  it  to 
England  and  Ireland,  and  got  her  better 
prices  than  she  had  got  from  the  shops  for 
articles  she  had  worked.  She  was  soon 
enabled  to  take  in  a  couple  of  girls  as  appren- 
tices, and  had  a  little  establishment.  Her 
cottage  was  comfortable,  and  she  and  her 
mother  lived  in  a  degree  of  comfort  which 
they  had  not  before  known. 

One  day  the  maid  came  to  tell  me  that  her 
friend  was  married  and  could  do  no  work. 
I  thought  it  rather  a  pity  for  her  to  give  up 
her  work,  as  the  Russian  winters  are  long, 
and  I  thought  she  would  find  time  hang 
heavily  on  her  hands  and  said  so.  The 
girl  said  she  could  not  work  at  present,  as 


266      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court 

she  was  too  tired  in  the  evening  when  she 
was  finished  ploughing.  I  was  amused,  and 
said  I  had  never  heard  of  a  woman  driving 
the  plough,  and  she  then  told  me  she  was 
not  driving,  but  dragging  it  with  a  cow. 

I  said  I  supposed  she  must  have  been  very 
fond  of  the  man  to  have  given  up  so  much 
for  his  sake.  I  learned  to  my  amazement 
that  he  was  a  boy  of  seventeen  !  The  mar- 
riage had  been  arranged  by  a  "  go-between." 
He  was  the  youngest  of  four  brothers,  who 
were  all  married ;  there  were  eleven  adults 
and  about  twenty-five  children  all  living  in 
a  little  tiny  cabin.  The  new  wife  had  had 
to  give  her  own  little  house  to  her  father-in- 
law,  who  let  it,  and  pocketed  the  rent,  and 
she  had  not  even  a  candle  to  work  by  in  the 
winter  evenings.  I  expressed  surprise,  but 
was  looked  at  with  astonishment.  "  But  she 
was  an  old  maid  ;  and  no  Russian  likes  to 
be  an  old  maid." 

A  peasant  woman  whom  I  knew  wished 
to  arrange  a  marriage  for  me  !  I  am  afraid 
I  should  have  been  rather  a  disturbing 
element  in  the  cabin. 

The  maids  in  the  nursery  used  always  to 
tell  me  if  any  man  paid  them  attentions, 


More  About  the  Children.  267 

and  just  for  all  the  world  like  an  anxious 
mother,  I  used  to  make  enquiries  about  his 
character,  temper,  position  in  life,  and 
whether  the  would-be  suitor  could  give  his 
wife  a  home  of  her  own. 

If  satisfied  on  these  points  I  made  no 
objection,  but  allowed  the  wooing  to  con- 
tinue, but  I  would  never  hear  of  allowing 
any  of  them  to  go  to  live  in  the  country  with 
her  husband's  relations,  and  be  treated  as  a 
beast  of  burden. 

One  of  the  under-nurses  was  married  last 
year.  She  had  come  to  the  palace  straight 
from  her  school,  at  seventeen  years  of  age, 
and  was  there  for  nearly  seven  years.  She 
was  naturally  very  much  attached  to  the 
children,  and  when  her  last  day  came  was  in 
floods  of  tears  all  through  the  day,  and  the 
children  were  terribly  distressed  to  see  her 
in  such  grief.  The  little  Grand  Duchess 
Tatiana  told  her  she  could  stay  on  if  she 
liked,  she  knew  we  all  loved  her  and  would 
be  sorry  to  part  from  her ;  and  then  she 
came  running  to  me  to  beg  me  not  to  send 
dear  Tegla  away.  I  answered  that  she 
might  stay  if  she  liked,  but  that  she  had 
promised  to  marry  Vladislav  ;  it  was  her 


268      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

own  wish,  and  I  did  not  think  she  would  like 
to  break  her  word. 

The  other  girls  gave  a  little  party  to 
celebrate  her  leaving  us,  and  the  young  man 
was  amongst  the  guests.  When  the  girl 
heard  that  he  had  arrived  her  grief  broke 
forth  again.  She  realised  that  the  time  of 
parting  had  come,  and  the  children  cried 
most  bitterly.  Little  Tatiana  Nicolaivna 
took  a  sheet  of  paper  and  a  pencil,  and  wrote 
with  great  difficulty  a  letter  which  I  trans- 
late :  "  Vladislav, — Be  good  with  Tegla. — 
Tatiana."  She  placed  this  letter  in  an 
envelope  and  printed  in  large  letters  on  the 
envelope,  Vladislav,  and  sent  it  to  him  by 
the  housemaid.  I  went  in  later  to  speak 
to  the  man  and  wish  him  happiness.  He 
pulled  this  letter  out  of  his  pocket,  and  with 
tears  in  his  eyes  begged  me  to  thank  the 
little  Grand  Duchess,  and  assure  her  that  he 
would  never  forget  to  be  good  to  Tegla. 
All  the  more,  because  it  was  Tatiana  Nico- 
laivna's  wish.  He  always  carries  the  letter 
about  with  him.  She  came  to  visit  us  several 
times  after  her  marriage  and  was  very  happy. 
Whenever  she  writes  she  always  sends  a 
special  message  to  Tatiana  to  say  that 


More  About  the  Children.  269 

Vladislav  is  very  good  to  her,  and  the  little 
one  looks  so  pleased  and  says,  "  Well,  I  am 
glad." 

The  children  used  to  make  their  own 
Christmas  and  birthday  presents  for  their 
parents,  generally  some  needlework.  Once 
the  little  Grand  Duchess  Olga,  in  spite  of 
my  remonstrances,  worked  a  kettle-holder 
for  the  Emperor.  It  had  a  little  kettle 
singing  on  a  fire,  and  "  Polly,  put  the  kettle 
on,"  worked  on  it,  and  she  grounded  it  in 
blue.  I  made  it  up  for  her  with  a  ruche  of 
blue  ribbon  all  round,  and  she  admired  it 
immensely. 

When  Christmas  came  she  presented  it 
to  her  father,  saying,  "  Nana  is  afraid  it 
won't  be  much  use  to  you,  it  is  a  kettle-holder, 
but  you  can  put  it  on  your  table  for  a  mat, 
or  hang  it  on  the  wall  for  a  picture.  Just 
see  the  pretty  little  frame  round  it." 

One  day  the  children  and  I  were  walking 
in  the  garden  of  the  Winter  Palace.  The 
Emperor  has  some  really  beautiful  collie 
dogs,  and  these  were  taking  exercise  in  the 
garden  at  the  same  time.  One  of  them,  a 
young  untrained  creature,  jumped  on  Tatiana 
Nicolaivna's  back,  and  threw  her  down. 


270      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

The  child  was  frightened  and  cried  most 
bitterly.  I  lifted  her  up  and  said  : 

"  Poor  Sheilka  !  she  did  not  mean  to  hurt 
you  ;  she  only  wanted  to  say  '  Good-morning  ' 
to  you." 

The  child  looked  at  me  and  said,  "  Was 
that  all  ?  I  don't  think  she  is  very  polite  ; 
she  could  have  said  it  to  my  face,  not  to  my 
back." 

Shortly  after  I  first  went  to  Russia  the 
little  Grand  Duchess  Olga  was  very  naughty. 
I  said  to  her,  "  I  am  afraid  you  got  out  of 
bed  with  the  wrong  foot  foremost  this 
morning."  She  looked  a  little  puzzled,  but 
said  nothing.  Next  morning,  before  getting 
out  of  bed,  she  called  me  and  asked  which 
was  her  right  foot. 

I  showed  her,  and  she  most  carefully 
descended  on  it.  "  Now,"  said  she,  "  that 
bad  left  foot  won't  be  able  to  make  me 
naughty  to-day  ;  I  got  out  on  the  right." 

It  was  only  necessary  to  remind  her  of 
the  fact  all  day  to  ensure  perfect  obedience. 

I  do  not  suppose  that  the  world  holds 
anyone  more  unmusical  than  I  am.  My 
singing  might,  without  in  any  way  violating 
the  second  commandment,  be  worshipped, 


More  About  the  Children.  271 

for  it  is  like  nothing  in  the  heavens  above, 
nor  in  the  earth  beneath,  nor  in  the  waters 
under  the  earth.  Gilbert  might  have  had 
some  dim  prophetic  sense  of  its  beauty 
when  he  wrote  : 

"  It  was  wild,  it  was  fitful,  as  wild  as  the  breeze ; 
It  wandered  about  into  several  keys  ; 
It  was  jerky  and  spasmodic,  and  harsh,  I'm  aware, 
Yet  still  it  distinctly  suggested  an  air." 

I  have  just  a  faint  idea  of  two  tunes. 
One  of  them  is  "  Rock  of  Ages  "  ;  the  other, 
"  Villikins  and  his  Dinah." 

The  Grand  Duchess  Tatiana  was  ill  one 
time  and  slept  badly.  I  was  up  a  good  deal 
through  the  nights  with  her.  She  always 
asked  me  to  sing  for  her,  and  I  sang  "  Rock 
of  Ages  "  till  the  poor  little  sufferer  rebelled, 
and  flatly  refused  to  listen  to  it  any  more, 
so  I  fell  back  upon  "  Villikins."  It  interested 
her  very  much,  but  she  always  asked, 
"  Why  did  poor  Dinah  drink  the  poison 
cold  ?"  I  used  to  say  to  her,  "  She  had  not 
time  to  warm  it,  darling  ;  now  go  to  sleep." 

One  night,  however,  her  enquiries  went 
further,  and  "  Why  didn't  she  get  her  Nana 
to  warm  it  for  her  ?  You  would  have  warmed 
it  for  me,  wouldn't  you  ?  " 


272      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

I  had  got  from  England  a  preparation  for 
the  children's  hair,  and  was  rubbing  it  into 
little  Anastasie's  head  one  evening.  She 
objected,  and  I  said,  "  It  will  make  your 
hair  grow  nicely,  darling,"  so  she  sub- 
mitted. Next  evening  I  went  to  get  the 
kappuka  from  the  cupboard,  and  mademoi- 
selle ran  off  into  the  next  room.  She  re- 
turned dragging  by  its  leg  an  awful  dolly, 
a  regular  fetish,  minus  a  wig,  one  eye,  and 
an  arm.  She  gravely  took  a  little  piece  of 
sponge  and  began  to  rub  the  kappuka  into 
the  creature's  head.  I  remonstrated,  telling 
her  I  had  to  send  to  England  for  the  stuff  and 
did  not  want  it  wasted.  She  looked  at  me 
most  reproachfully,  and  said,  "  My  poor 
Vera  !  she  has  got  no  curls  ;  this  will  make 
her  hair  grow."  Of  course,  she  got  her  way. 

I  have  already  spoken  of  the  children's 
education,  and  I  reproduce  here  a  copy  of  a 
letter  I  had  from  the  Grand  Duchess  Olga 
during  my  summer  holidays,  which  is  nicely 
written  and  expressed  for  a  little  girl  of  her 
age.  Her  Russian  is  further  advanced  than 
her  English,  as  I  had  not  much  time  to 
devote  to  her  lessons.  I  also  print  some  of 
her  drawings. 


273 


CHAPTER    XXX. 

EDUCATION    IN    RUSSIA. 

SECONDARY  and  the  higher  education  are 
very  well  provided  for  in  Russia. 

There  are  many  universities,  and  the  fees 
for  tuition,  books,  etc.,  are  low,  only  about 
twenty  pounds  per  annum,  nor  is  age  any 
barrier  to  entrance.  I  think  it  would  add 
to  the  usefulness  of  the  universities  if  en- 
trance were  more  difficult,  for  they  get  many 
students  who  must  of  necessity  fail.  There 
are  very  many  free  scholarships. 

On  one  occasion  I  received  a  request  from 
a  young  woman  to  get  her  name  placed  in 
the  free  list  of  a  certain  professor  whom  I 
happened  to  know.  She  was  thirty  years  of 
age,  and  had  left  school  at  seventeen  with  very 
good  certificates.  She  learned  dressmaking, 
and  was  working  in  the  country.  She  had 
saved  some  hundreds  of  roubles  and  wished 
to  come  to  St.  Petersburg  to  study  medi- 

18 


274      S*x  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

cine.  I  sent  her  word  that  for  that  a  know- 
ledge of  Latin  was  necessary.  She  had 
already  left  school  thirteen  years,  and  had 
been  living  in  the  country  where  she  had 
little  access  to  books.  She  seemed  to  have 
been  successful  with  the  dressmaking,  and 
why  not  stick  to  it  ?  But  she  was  ambi- 
tious, and  would  not  be  persuaded.  She 
was  perfectly  certain  she  could  learn  all  that 
would  be  required,  and  was  determined  to 
enter  college. 

I  was  very  sorry  for  the  girl  coming  up  to 
St.  Petersburg  to  live,  probably  in  an  under- 
ground cellar,  and  spend  her  little  money 
all  to  no  avail.  However,  she  entered  the 
university  as  a  free  pupil.  Of  course,  she 
did  no  good,  and  took  the  place  which  might 
have  been  given  to  a  younger  pupil  just  left 
school,  lost  her  dressmaking  connection, 
tried  the  patience  of  her  professors,  and  all 
to  no  purpose. 

There  are  many  educational  institutions 
in  St.  Petersburg  helped  by  the  State  ;  in 
these  an  excellent  education  is  given,  chiefly 
in  modern  and  scientific  lines.  Foreign  lan- 
guages are  well  taught,  and  it  is  the  excep- 
tion to  find  an  educated  Russian  who  does 


Education  in  Russia.  275 

not  speak  three  or  four  languages  fluently. 
Their  own  language  is  terribly  difficult,  and 
I  never  knew  a  Russian  to  whom  figures  were 
not  a  mighty  stumbling-block.  Even  with 
their  decimal  system,  which  is  so  simple  that 
we  could  master  it  in  half  an  hour,  they 
have  to  use  in  shops  beads  and  wires  for 
counting,  and  even  with  this  help  they  go 
astray.  When  they  come  over  to  this 
country,  how  they  get  to  understand  our 
complicated  money  system  I  do  not  know. 

There  are  many  free  scholarships  in  these 
schools.  The  Emperor  and  Empress  have 
the  right  of  presenting  free  pupils.  On  pay- 
ment of  a  small  sum  by  parents  or  relations 
a  child  can  be  received.  One  of  the  Russian 
nurses  in  the  palace  lately  got  a  peasant  child 
admitted  into  a  school  in  this  way.  She  was 
twelve  years  of  age  and  could  read,  but  not 
write.  She  was  elected  for  eight  years,  was 
to  be  lodged,  fed,  educated  and  clothed, 
taught  either  housework  or  sewing,  and 
fitted  out  for  the  world.  On  the  completion 
of  her  eight  years  she  might,  should  she  so 
desire,  enter  the  university,  and  all  that  was 
paid  for  her  was  about  five  pounds  a  year. 
At  twelve  years  old  she  was  a  little  unkempt 

18* 


276      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

peasant,  with  a  handkerchief  tied  round  her 
head,  her  feet  covered  with  bark  shoes,  and 
wearing  bandages  instead  of  stockings.  She 
had  never  even  seen  a  train,  and  the  most 
wonderful  thing  she  ever  saw  in  all  her 
life  was  a  statue  of  one  of  the  Emperors  in 
one  of  the  streets  of  St.  Petersburg.  She 
did  not  know  the  meaning  of  a  shop,  had 
never  heard  of  buying  anything  anywhere 
but  in  a  fair. 

In  the  higher  institutes  scholarships  are 
given  strictly  according  to  the  rank  of  the 
father  of  the  pupil.  Thus  in  one,  no  one 
under  the  rank  of  a  major  has  a  chance  of 
getting  a  daughter  or  son  received,  and 
so  on.  In  the  highest  of  all,  the  daughters 
of  generals  and  foreign  princesses  are  re- 
ceived. The  Queen  of  Italy  and  her  sisters 
were  educated  here.  In  all  these  institu- 
tions the  pupils  and  teachers  wear  uniforms. 
Some  of  them  don  the  very  ugliest,  most 
unbecoming  shade  of  blue  one  can  imagine. 

In  Russia  every  man  has  military  rank. 
The  little  Grand  Duchess  Olga's  tutors  were 
supposed  to  be  generals,  and  were  called 
"  Your  Excellency."  They  wore  the  uni- 
form of  generals,  but  had  a  little  button  in 


Education  in  Russia.  277 

front  of  the  cap,  placed  in  a  different  posi- 
tion from  that  of  the  real  live  military 
generals. 

Many  decorations  are  given  for  various 
services  entitling  free  education  to  a  son  or 
daughter. 

Foreigners  are  not  given  military  rank. 
They  come  to  give  lessons,  even  in  the  early 
morning,  dressed  in  evening  clothes.  The 
tail-coat,  etc.,  is  taken  as  a  sort  of  uniform. 

In  comparison  with  secondary  schools, 
primary  schools  are  very  few.  There  are 
many  in  which  the  only  means  of  education 
for  the  poor  is  the  village  priest.  The  poor 
man  is  supposed  to  instruct  them,  but  life 
is  not  long  enough  for  that,  and  he  has  many 
other  duties  to  perform  besides  teaching  his 
own  barbarians.  He  has  to  farm  his  own 
little  plot  of  ground,  and  to  make  bargains 
with  the  people,  so  much  for  a  wedding,  so 
much  for  a  funeral,  to  baptise  and  confirm 
their  children,  to  bury  the  dead,  to  solemnise 
marriages,  etc.  The  poor  man  has  really 
not  time  for  more  than  he  does. 

The  Russians  value  education  most  highly, 
and  consider  it  an  inestimable  benefit.  A 
peasant  woman  once  asked  me  if  I  could 


278      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

read  and  write ;  I  answered  in  the  affir- 
mative, but  mentioned  that  I  could  not  read 
Russian,  but  only  my  own  language  and 
French.  She  looked  round  my  room  and 
at  my  books,  and  asked  me  in  an  awed  tone 
if  I  had  read  all  those.  I  said  I  had.  So  she 
exclaimed,  "  Oh !  What  good  parents  you 
have  had.  I  also  had  very  good  parents, 
who  sent  me  to  school  every  day  for  four 
years,  and  I  can  read  almost  any  book,  and 
even  the  newspapers,  and  write  a  letter  quite 
easily." 

The  following  story  was  told  me  by  the 
Empress.  One  morning  there  arrived  on  the 
train  from  the  Caucasus  a  little  girl  aged 
eleven.  She  went  to  a  porter  and  asked  to 
be  sent  to  the  Minister  of  Education.  He 
made  some  demur ;  the  child  said,  with  per- 
fect gravity,  "  I  have  come  from  the 
Caucasus,  ten  days'  journey,  to  be  put  to 
school ;  you  must  please  get  me  an  izvochick 
and  send  me  to  his  house.  The  child  took 
herself  so  seriously  that  the  porter  took  her 
in  the  same  manner,  and  putting  her  into 
a  street  carriage,  sent  her  off.  Arriving  at 
the  minister's  house  she  had  great  difficulty 
in  persuading  the  servant  to  let  her  in. 


Education  in  Russia.  279 

But  she  succeeded,  and  he  promised  to  let 
his  master  know  that  a  little  girl  from  the 
Caucasus  wanted  to  see  him. 

At  the  moment  the  minister  was  engaged 
with  the  Empress's  secretary,  but  he  said 
the  child  could  be  shown  in.  She  stated  her 
case,  and  the  minister,  in  much  difficulty 
and  greatly  amused  over  the  whole  business, 
assured  the  child  that  he  had  no  vacancy. 
But  the  little  one  was  not  to  be  denied. 

'  You  are  the  Minister  of  Education,"  cried 
she.  "  I  have  come  from  the  Caucasus  to 
be  put  to  school  ;  you  must  put  me  some- 
where." The  minister  was  terribly  puzzled 
as  to  what  to  do  with  her,  and  tried  to  ex- 
plain things  ;  but  she  would  hear  nothing. 
The  secretary  interposed,  and  offered  to  pay 
for  this  anxious  little  scholar  till  a  free 
vacancy  could  be  found  for  her.  A  note  was 
accordingly  written  to  the  mistress  of  a 
school  and  the  child  was  sent  off  under  escort 
of  a  footman  to  be  put  to  school.  Her  joy 
was  unbounded.  The  secretary  immediately 
went  down  to  Peterhoff,  and  asked  to  see 
the  Empress  on  pressing  business.  He  told 
her  about  the  child  and  her  ardent  desire 
to  be  educated.  Inquiries  were  made,  the 


280      Six  Years  at  the  Russian  Court. 

truth  of  the  child's  story  established,  and  the 
Empress  gave  her  a  vacancy  in  one  of  her 
own  schools. 

It  seemed  that  her  two  eldest  sisters  had 
been  received  into  a  local  school,  but  there 
was  no  room  for  this  little  one.  She  took 
the  fact  greatly  to  heart  and  fretted  herself 
ill.  The  priest  and  doctor  did  their  best  to 
pacify  her,  but  she  would  not  be  gainsaid. 
In  despair  they  had  taken  a  quarter  ticket 
for  her  to  St.  Petersburg,  thinking  that  if 
she  could  only  realise  that  it  was  impossible 
she  might  be  reconciled  to  the  "  Will  of 
God."  Accordingly  she  came,  but  "  God 
helps  those  who  help  themselves "  proved 
true  in  her  case,  though,  indeed,  we  may  see 
God's  will  in  what  happened.  She  is  now 
under  the  Empress's  protection,  and  unless 
I  am  much  mistaken  the  world  will  hear  of 
her  some  day.  She  will  not  be  easily  dis- 
couraged nor  cast  down. 

The  Emperor  established  many  schools 
and  founded  many  scholarships  in  honour 
of  the  birth  of  the  Czarovitch,  Alexis  Nico- 
lavitch.  I  do  not  think  anyone  could  desire 
a  better  endowment  than  a  school  founded 
in  his  name. 


28l 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 

THE    BIRTH    OF   AN    HEIR. 

ON  the  I2th  August,  1904,  the  little  Grand 
Duke  Czarevitch  was  born.  It  happened 
to  be  my  birthday,  and  when  I  went  to  see 
the  new-born  prince  and  congratulate  the 
Empress  she  said  to  me,  "  You  see  what  a 
nice  birthday  present  I  have  given  you." 

He  was  baptised  when  he  was  twelve  days 
old.  I  have  described  the  baptismal  cere- 
mony for  little  Marie,  and  his  was  just 
slightly  more  ceremonious.  His  gilt  carriage 
was  drawn  by  eight  horses  instead  of  six, 
and  he  was  dressed  in  blue  and  white  instead 
of  pink  ;  also,  the  decoration  which  he 
received  from  the  Emperor  was  of  a  higher 
order. 

The  little  sisters  were  delighted  with  the 
new  brother,  and  made  many  quaint  and 


282       Six  Years  at  the^Russian  Court. 

critical  remarks  about  him.  They  were  at 
the  baptism  dressed  in  Russian  Court  costume 
of  blue  satin,  brocaded  in  silver  and  trimmed 
with  silver  braid  and  buttons,  and  they 
wore  silver  shoes.  Their  head-dresses  were 
of  blue  velvet  embroidered  with  pearls ; 
they  looked  very  sweet  and  quaint. 

The  child  had  for  his  godfathers  the 
King  of  Denmark,  the  King  of  England, 
the  Emperor  of  Germany,  the  Grand  Duke 
Alexis,  the  Emperor's  uncle,  and  many  god- 
mothers, including  Princess  Victoria  of 
Wales.  He  received  the  name  of  Alexis ; 
he  was  the  third  born  Czarovitch  in  the 
Romanoff  dynasty.  Michael,  the  first  Ro- 
manoff's eldest  son,  was  called  Alexis  ;  Peter 
the  Great's  eldest  son,  born  Czarovitch, 
received  it  also,  and  this  one,  of  course, 
had  to  get  it.  The  name  means  "  Bringer 
of  Peace."  I  hope  it  may  prove  true. 

He  is  a  very  beautiful  boy.  In  the  middle 
of  the  baptismal  ceremony,  when  he  was 
being  anointed  for  the  first  time,  he  raised 
his  hand  and  extended  his  fingers  as  though 
pronouncing  a  blessing.  Of  course,  every- 
one said  that  it  was  a  very  good  omen,  and 
that  he  would  prove  to  be  a  father  to  his 


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The  Birth  of  an  Heir.  283 

people.  God  grant  it,  but  not  for  many 
years  to  come. 

When  we  came  out  of  church  it  was 
raining  hard,  which  they  said  was  a  very 
good  omen,  but  it  was  not  so  nice  for  my 
white  satin  dress. 

The  dress  worn  on  this  occasion  by  those 
present  far  exceeded  in  beauty  and  grandeur 
anything  I  had  ever  seen  before. 

It  was  the  little  girls'  first  great  cere- 
mony, and  we  can  judge  how  delighted 
they  were  with  it  all. 

Shortly  after  the  birth  of  the  Czarovitch 
I  left  Russia  owing  to  private  and  personal 
reasons.  I  was  very  sorry  and  grieved  to 
say  good-bye  to  the  dear  children  whom  I 
love  so  well. 


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KINGSTON.    SURREY. 


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